As the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) prepares to hold its first formal meeting, one of its immediate duties will be to select a new national spokesperson. The importance of this choice cannot be underestimated, particularly so close to the crucial 2024 national elections. The ruling party, however, may now be in a state where any person would find this job almost impossible. 

The new appointee will inevitably find that the divisions in the party have not disappeared, and that they will be working under three people in the office of the secretary-general. This will be at the heart of some of the serious problems the ANC faces with communication in the next 18 months.

There can be no doubt about the importance of the position of national spokesperson for the ANC. Over the past 20 years, the audiences of the English-speaking media, particularly in television and radio and online, have grown increasingly important. Not only are there more channels and more airtime to fill, but the sense of respect and almost awe the ANC commanded in the 1990s has now vanished, possibly never to return.

Presenters are less patient, investigative journalists sharper and more probing, and audiences and voters are more demanding of accountability than they have ever been.

At the same time, strangely, it seems those who consume online reporting and news broadcasts have become more important to winning elections. As the proportion of people who vote continues to decline, the informed ones become a bigger proportion of the voters. Just the fact that they are actually listening to and watching these discussions means that they are also more likely to vote.

As a result, the ANC’s national spokesperson could play an outsize role in framing the perception of the party, perhaps more than anyone not named Cyril Ramaphosa. The spokesperson will have to set a tone, respond to questions asked with zero or little warning, answer queries without knowing the full content of an article, deal with frustrated and angry presenters and listeners, and sometimes (almost literally) spin on their feet.

As a result of a ferociously fast news cycle, they could be on air from early in the morning until late at night. Thus, they will be the most closely, and most often, watched ANC representative most voters will see most times.

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Just about every party strategist will say that building perception over time matters before elections, that while campaigns and adverts help, winning hearts and minds long before the poll arrives is more valuable.

An all-consuming job

Political communication in our democracy is an art and an all-consuming job. Often, the ANC’s spokesperson will have to defend what appears to be indefensible.

For example, just this week the current spokesperson, Pule Mabe, has had to defend the ANC’s track record with Eskom, while also facing questions about how it is that ANC leaders who are in the Cabinet receive electricity from generators paid for by taxpayers. He had to answer questions about long-term mistakes by the party and present-day realities, at a moment when many hold the party solely responsible for what has happened. 

It is sometimes forgotten, but the main task of the ANC’s spokesperson is to convince people to vote for the ANC. In other words, rather than defending the party, or out-shouting the presenter, or simply playing for time until the interview ends, the task should be to convince as many members of the audience as possible. This requires political dexterity and the almost supernatural ability not to lose your temper under intense pressure.

There are probably not many people in South Africa, let alone the NEC, who can do this.

In the past, and after a national conference, the new ANC NEC would select a spokesperson from among themselves. This is how Mabe was appointed, with Zizi Kodwa before him and Jackson Mthembu before Kodwa.

(There are exceptions, though: At one point, Carl Niehaus, who was not on the NEC, was asked by the then secretary-general, Ace Magashule, to help out with communications during an election. He occupied a prominent public role and was later found to be a habitual liar.)

One of the issues the NEC faces is that there are not many people available to do the job.

Several NEC members are already either members of Parliament or in the Cabinet, which means they cannot take on the job.

In the recent past, one of the problems has been that the person selected as spokesperson was not necessarily a strong supporter of the leader.

Mabe said publicly that he had voted for Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma at Nasrec in 2017. While this had the benefit of honesty, it did give the impression he was not fully behind President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stated agenda of renewal. It certainly fed into the perception that the ANC was divided.

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And sometimes, in more complicated situations, the spokesperson may have to try to deliberately distance the party from its leader, or from a particular person.

An example of this is the period when Jacob Zuma was still president, but Jackson Mthembu (who has since died) was able to provide an honest face for the party.

Then there is the situation within the party itself.

Ambushed on air

In many democracies, party spokespeople may find themselves in trouble with their leaders or followers for making a particular comment while under pressure or after being ambushed on air. It is in the nature of the job that sometimes a spokesperson has to almost make up policy on live television.

The chances of this happening are likely to increase because of the way the party is structured. They are also likely to increase exponentially should the party become a synonym for corruption

While the ANC’s spokesperson was under the office of the ANC Presidency during the Mbeki years, since 2007 it has come under the office of the secretary-general. Now, there will be three people in that office. In December, Fikile Mbalula was elected as secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane as first deputy secretary-general and Maropene Ramokgopa as second deputy secretary-general.

Mbalula and Mokonyane are strong personalities. Should either of them make a controversial comment, then the person beneath them would have to manage a very difficult situation.

Just this week the current ANC spokesperson, Pule Mabe, has had to defend the party’s track record with Eskom, while also facing questions about how it is that ANC leaders who are in the Cabinet receive electricity from generators paid for by taxpayers.(Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo)

As the ANC is clearly divided (and Mbalula has been a strong supporter of Ramaphosa, and Mokonyane a supporter of  Zuma) it is entirely possible that some divisions in this office will spill over into the public domain.

This would be a difficult problem for a spokesperson to live with and will add to the complexity of the job.

To pile on the pressure, many now hold the ANC primarily responsible for the problems our society faces. Rolling blackouts, poor service delivery, crumbling roads and corruption can all be blamed on the ANC. And it is against this track record that a spokesperson has to try and change the views of voters on a consistent basis.

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This can only be done if the ANC itself actually acts on these problems. As any spin doctor, and probably their mother, will tell you, actions speak louder than words.

For the moment, there is no sign that the ANC will actually act. No spokesperson will be able to change how voters see that lack of action, and no amount of spinning will be able to cover up for corruption, incompetence and shambolic delivery. No silver tongue will be able to gaslight the people of South Africa. 

We’ve said it once and will say it again — the ANC has come into a space where it is automatically presumed guilty until it proves otherwise. Whoever follows in Pule Mabe’s footsteps will find the job almost unbearable. DM