ANC membership drop may be due to inflated numbers before national conference — Mbalula

The ANC is losing members, dropping by almost 200,000 in the past three years. 

In December 2021 the ANC had 866,511 members on its system, which dropped to 688,454 by December 2023. This is just under 180,000 members lost in three years, a significant and worrying dip according to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. 

The party has also seen a drop of 14% in its branches in the same period, from 4,417 in 2021 to 3,425 in 2023. 

According to the ANC annual report released by Mbalula this week, the drop in party membership signals a bigger issue of possible bogus membership. This was probably done by people who inflated party membership to increase numbers before the national conference in December 2022.

The ANC has often raised concern over inflation of its member numbers in provinces hoping to gain positions in the national executive committee. 

Mbalula said another concern was a significant number of people don’t renew their membership after it expires. This was probably because membership fees were possibly paid for by other people for the purposes of the conference. 

There was a need to strengthen membership controls and members were encouraged to manage their own membership on the system, he said.

KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng recorded the biggest drop in membership of 42,623, 40,081 and 20,065 respectively in the past three years. 

The drop is consistent with the dip in party support in the May 29 national and provincial elections. The party went from 57% in 2019 to 40% in 2024, forcing it to enter into a government of national unity (GNU) with 10 other political parties.

The GNU installed Cyril Ramaphosa as president. On Thursday Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the opening of parliament address in Cape Town.

KZN and Gauteng support dropped significantly in the elections, with the ANC losing power in the two provinces. 

The ANC lost KZN but managed to claw back power in Gauteng, installing its premier with the help of the GNU. KZN is now led by the IFP with its coalition partners. 

The Jacob Zuma-led MK Party overtook the ANC in KZN.  

“[This] shows that even just on the basis of the narrow definition of branches in good standing, there was a 14% reduction in the number of ANC branches in good standing from a year before,” said Mbalula. 

“Most worrying, however, are KZN and the Western Cape that have nearly 35% of their branches not in good standing since a year before, followed by Free State at 14% less.”

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