By Thapelo Molefe
The ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) has resolved to reconfigure the party’s Western Cape structures and establish a Provincial Task Team (PTT) to stabilise the party structures ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
Announcing the decision in Cape Town on Wednesday, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the NEC-endorsed intervention aims to restore unity, strengthen capacity, and position the movement to regain lost ground in one of the country’s most politically contested provinces.
Mbalula stressed that the restructuring was not punitive but a strategic and corrective measure to ensure the ANC remains “an effective vehicle for transformation, development, and people-centred governance.”
“The end goal is to strengthen the ANC in the Western Cape,” he said.
“We have not dissolved anyone — we have reconfigured and strengthened the leadership by bringing in comrades with experience who will add value to the collective.”
The move marks one of the ANC’s most significant organisational shake-ups in recent years and underscores its determination to reclaim political relevance in the province, governed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Western Cape province since 2009, when it won an outright majority in the provincial elections.
With preparations for the 2026 elections gaining momentum, Mbalula said the party’s mission was clear.
“We must rebuild, reconnect, and reassert the ANC as the people’s movement in the Western Cape. The centre must hold,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula said the Western Cape holds a special place in South Africa’s political history, as the seat of colonial power, the launchpad of apartheid, and the home of the nation’s Parliament, but also as a province of immense economic potential.
“It was in this province that generations of African kings, freedom fighters and revolutionaries were imprisoned in places like the Castle of Good Hope and Robben Island,” he said.
“Yet it is also a province that stands as an economic gateway through its ports and airports, a centre for tourism, trade and industry. The ANC must strengthen its political and organisational presence here to advance transformation and confront the DA’s anti-poor, anti-transformation agenda.”
Unveiling the newly reconfigured PTT, Mbalula said the leadership collective blends veteran cadres with youthful energy to strengthen unity, discipline, and grassroots mobilisation.
The task team will be convened by former South African ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool, with Linda Moss as First Deputy Convener, Vuyiso Tyhalisisu as Second Deputy Convener, Thandi Manikivana Makasi as Coordinator, and Melanie Tembo and Pholisa Makeleni as deputy coordinators.
Richard Dyantyi has been appointed fundraiser.
Mbalula explained that Rasool is still considering the appointment as it is not a full-time position but has been asked to convene this particular team, but said the NEC was confident in his leadership pedigree.
“We have gone into the reserves and drawn the best of the best in the ANC in the Western Cape, old and young, past and present, to rebuild the organisation. No one has been thrown out. This is a progressive reshuffling of leadership to strengthen the centre.”
The Secretary-General said the immediate task is to rebuild ANC branches, leagues, and regional structures so they function as “vibrant instruments of community development and political education.”
“The key question for the next three months is how this leadership responds to the tasks we have given them,” he said.
“The most important thing is organisation, on the ground, in branches and regions, and ensuring that the ANC reconnects with communities.”
The reconfiguration follows the ANC’s poor performance in the 2024 national elections, where the party recorded a nine percent decline in the Western Cape.
Mbalula said both the Western Cape and Gauteng now form the backbone of the ANC’s renewal and recovery strategy.
Mbalula stressed that the NEC’s decision was constitutionally sound and politically necessary, rooted in the principles of democratic centralism.
The reconfigured structures, he said, will prioritise ethical leadership, discipline, and the fight against corruption, while addressing the province’s chronic problems of crime, extortion, and gang-related violence.
He also emphasised the need to strengthen the ANC’s communications and mass mobilisation efforts, saying visibility and engagement, not internal disputes, must define the party’s presence in the Western Cape.
“The ANC is not a rich party, but our strength lies in our organisation, our people, and our values. This leadership must be visible in communities, leading programmes and reconnecting the ANC with the people it serves,” Mbalula said.
For more than a decade, the Western Cape has remained a stubborn political battlefield for the ANC, plagued by internal divisions, factional infighting, and declining electoral support under the DA’s provincial dominance.
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