President Cyril Ramaphosa’s January 8 statement delivered in the North West over the weekend was unusually candid, bordering on confessional of failures.

For the first time in years, the ANC leader openly acknowledged what millions of South Africans have long lived with: that the governing party’s failures in service delivery, governance, economic growth and job creation have alienated communities and hollowed out public trust.

It was a familiar annual ritual, the ANC’s birthday address setting out priorities for the year ahead, but this time it occurred amid electoral challenges and internal divisions, reflecting a more critical public sentiment.

Over the past five January 8 statements, Ramaphosa has returned to the same core promises: fixing local government, ending load shedding, restoring water security, creating jobs, fighting corruption and renewing the ANC.

Progress has been uneven at best. On electricity, there is a measurable improvement.

After years of crisis, Eskom’s operational stability has improved, and private power generation has accelerated.

Load shedding, once crippling, has eased.

Yet for millions, the relief is partial. Municipal load reduction, driven by unpaid Eskom debt, continues to disrupt daily life.

“Load reduction is a mechanism municipalities use to manage debt to Eskom.

We call on all electricity users to pay for the services they use and to support the government in preventing illegal connections that cause overloads and outages,” he said.

Each January 8 statement has pledged action, yet each year, communities still queue at taps or rely on tankers.

While the government has now listed 13 major water infrastructure projects and has allocated R1.2 billion to the North West, implementation failures, corruption and sabotage have kept water scarcity a lived reality rather than a policy problem solved.

“We call on municipalities to ensure proper project preparation, the use of skilled contractors and disciplined implementation so that these projects benefit communities,” Ramaphosa said.

On jobs and economic growth, the gap between promise and performance has widened.

Despite repeated commitments to inclusive growth and economic transformation, unemployment remained structurally high, particularly among young people.

The result is deepening poverty, dependency on social grants and a sense of permanent exclusion from the economy that the ANC once promised would be shared.

Corruption concerns have been frequently raised, highlighting ongoing challenges faced by the ANC in maintaining public trust.

However, reported by IOL, policy analyst, Dr Reneva Fourie, said the January 8 meaning, authority and function have shifted alongside the evolving role of the ANC itself – from a liberation movement operating under conditions of illegality, to a governing party entrusted with the aspirations of a newly democratic society.

“While recognising the ANC’s indelible contributions to South Africa’s liberation and democratic consolidation, the January 8 statement is notably losing its relevance,” Fourie said.

Political economy analyst, Zamikhaya Maseti, painted a picture of how the Marikana Massacre hovered over ANC’s celebrations.

About 34 mineworkers were killed by agents of the democratic State while demanding a living wage of R12 500. These workers were neither criminals nor insurgents.

“Marikana exposed the limits of political liberation divorced from economic transformation. It revealed a post apartheid State deeply entangled with capital, structurally dependent on mineral rents, and uncertain in its class orientation,” Maseti said.

“This is the burden the ANC must confront, honestly.”

Five years on, the Zondo Commission has produced reports, not justice.

Ramaphosa again pledged decisive action, including implementing State Capture recommendations and strengthening the criminal justice system.

But public confidence remained low, shaped by slow prosecutions and high-profile scandals that rarely end in convictions.

The president’s admission that people were questioning whether democracy and the ANC “really work for them” speaks to a broader crisis.

“We cannot blame our people if they question whether our democracy, our Constitution, our economy and indeed the ANC and the Alliance really work for them.

“It is these weaknesses and failures that the tasks outlined below seek to address,” he said.

Communities face collapsing municipalities, potholes, refuse not collected, broken sewage systems and failing billing systems.

These are not abstract governance failures, they are daily indignities that breed anger and disengagement.

Internally, the ANC is under strain. Factional battles, weakened organisational discipline and contested renewal efforts have blunted its ability to govern decisively.

Calls to make “organisational renewal visible and irreversible” echo previous years, still largely unmet.

For many South Africans, patience has already run out and Ramaphosa has warned the party members against the situation.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

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