March and March pushes ANC to face what it buried
· Citizen
It was eye-opening to read today’s assessment by Zamani Saul – the ANC’s Northern Cape chair – of the March and March movement… because it indicates that there are people within the party who recognise that, because of what the organisation has done – like it or not – South Africa will never be the same again.
Also striking, from a senior member of a party noted for its head-in-the-sand, out-of-touch approach to the grassroots, is that Saul acknowledges the similarities between March and March and the protests of the Arab Spring.
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That wave of revolution effectively toppled dictators in four countries, so the mere fact that an ANC leader like Saul sees the danger is perhaps an indication that change is on the way.
In many ways, March and March is forcing the ANC to deal with issues it would prefer to sweep under the carpet – but particularly its own culpability when it comes to the tsunami of illegal immigrants which engulfed the country after 1994.
MARCH&MARCH IS NOT A COUNTER-REVOLUTION
— Dr. Zamani Saul (@dr_zsaul1) July 8, 2026
By Dr. Zamani Saul, Northern Cape ANC Provincial Chairperson.
08 July 2026.
First, it is essential to acknowledge the politically astute and proactive manner in which the national government responded to the 30 June ultimatum for… pic.twitter.com/LXqA4ZNj7z
That, added to the humbling losses in the 2024 elections, when the ANC saw its support fall to 40% and was forced into a humiliating government of national unity coalition, means even the most deaf in the party hierarchy must hear the bell tolling and realise it tolls for them.
Saul rejects the premise by some – like former president Thabo Mbeki – who characterise any opposition to the ANC as “counter-revolutionary”, but then he goes on to accuse Jacob Zuma and his uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party of taking advantage of the momentum created by March and March.
His belief is that MK wants to create instability in the country to further its own agenda and he may have a point there.
Thousands of foreigners have left and the economy will be affected. But that could be the least of the ANC’s worries.