President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly told senior ANC leaders he is willing to step down as party president after the ANC's poor showing in the local government elections, according to unnamed party members quoted in a weekend newspaper report. Neither the Presidency nor the ANC has confirmed this.
The ANC's national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu, said she was "not aware of such a discussion by national officials." That is not a denial of the claim, and the Presidency had not commented in the reports we reviewed.
What is being reported
At least five senior members of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) reportedly said the president suggested he should step down, with one saying he felt the party had lost two elections under him and the officials and that there should be consequences. Another source said he suggested he would go alone if the other members of the top seven did not.
The same reports say Deputy President Paul Mashatile and others rejected the idea. One anonymous source described it as an emotional reaction rather than a considered position. All of these accounts are from unnamed people, and we have not independently verified them.
The election backdrop
With 99% of votes counted on Saturday evening, the ANC stood on 30.88% of valid votes, according to the count, and had lost its majority in all three Gauteng metros, Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is due to declare the final results on Sunday evening.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, speaking on Saturday, called the result a "catastrophic disaster". He said no formal coalition talks had begun and that "the ANC will not be in a hurry to get into coalitions."
EFF leader Julius Malema said that if the MK Party demanded that Ramaphosa go, the ANC would have to consider that. This is Malema's position, not a reported ANC one.
What happens next
The ANC's top seven officials are due to meet on Monday and the NEC on Thursday 12 November, according to reporting on the party's schedule. Councils must hold their first meetings within 14 days of the results declaration.
It is not clear whether Ramaphosa raised a resignation formally or in passing, or how it would affect his role as head of state and the Government of National Unity. A president who resigns the party leadership does not automatically leave the national presidency.
What we do not yet know
We do not know whether the president made the remarks, in which meeting, or whether he still holds that view. We have no on-the-record comment from Ramaphosa or the Presidency, and the claim is single-sourced to anonymous accounts.
