Key facts
- ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said there is no pressure from the leadership collective for Ramaphosa to leave.
- The ANC's vote share fell to about 31%, down from 46% at the 2021 municipal vote, a new low for the party.
- Bhengu dismissed as a fabrication a TimesLive report that Ramaphosa had considered stepping down as party leader.
- Former president Thabo Mbeki said on a local podcast that Ramaphosa and other ANC leaders should resign.
- The ANC is due to elect its next leader in December 2027, when Ramaphosa will make way after two five-year terms.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu told reporters on November 12, 2026 that President Cyril Ramaphosa, the party's leader, is not under pressure to resign, speaking before a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee to decide its approach to coalition negotiations. "The president is going nowhere," Bhengu said, adding that there is no pressure from the leadership collective for him to leave.
The comments followed municipal elections in the week before November 12 in which the ANC's share of the vote fell to about 31%, down from 46% at the last municipal vote in 2021 and a new low for the party. In many major cities, including Johannesburg, no party secured a majority, meaning coalitions will be needed to run local government there.
Bhengu dismissed as a "fabrication" a report by local news website TimesLive that Ramaphosa had considered stepping down as party leader after the election result. Former president Thabo Mbeki, in an interview on a local podcast, criticized Ramaphosa over the ANC's performance and said it would be right for him and other ANC leaders to resign. Mbeki has criticized Ramaphosa's record before, and the two have been at odds for decades since Mbeki was chosen over Ramaphosa as Nelson Mandela's successor.
The ANC is due to elect its next leader in December 2027, when Ramaphosa will make way after two five-year terms at the helm of the party.