IN MY VIEW | Familiar scenes as officials jump ship to serve their own interests

As the 2026 local government elections draw closer, a familiar development is playing itself out.

Some of our comrades are abandoning ship and changing political allegiance.

Although we join the ANC voluntarily, it is disturbing to see comrades we have served with leaving the ANC to join other political parties.

Nevertheless, we must accept their decisions in a comradely spirit.

We cannot celebrate when those we have served with leave us as the people of the Eastern Cape and South Africa at large look to the ANC to lead and continue the good story of building a better life for all.

Difficult as it is, we must accept their decision to leave while we redouble our efforts to ensure the progressive ANC policies are implemented.

However, what is concerning about the new phenomenon of political migration though is that it is driven largely by self-serving interests of acquiring positions.

It started as floor crossing a few years ago and is now entrenched in SA politics.

The ANC is not the only party in this quagmire; other political parties are affected by this behaviour too.

Sadly, once comrades lose conferences or are not elected to positions, they become bitter to a point they jump ship. Being deployed into any position is a privilege and not a birthright.

As ANC leaders, members and supporters, we must always remember that this 114-year-old organisation was not built by those who leave when it is difficult.

The giants on whose shoulders we stand were resilient ANC volunteers who stayed the course and weathered the many storms they faced, like repugnant colonialism and apartheid systems.

Thus, it is prudent to remind cadres that our glorious movement was never a shelter for convenience, but a fortress for struggle and sacrifice to liberate our people from the injustices of the past.

We are observing with serious concern that today the loyalty of comrades shifts once they are not appointed to positions of responsibility.

Cadres who served for years as ANC councillors abandoned the movement for other political parties once their terms of office ended. That is political opportunism.

True loyalty reveals itself in moments like these, when the organisation must renew itself, reconnect with the people and correct its own shortcomings.

The ANC is not without its challenges. Communities are frustrated. Service delivery must improve. Internal divisions must be confronted decisively. But walking away will not fix these challenges.

It will deepen them.

Those who leave do not strengthen democracy but rather weaken the very instrument that has historically driven transformation in our country.

The task before us is not to abandon the movement, but to rebuild it from within by renewing branches, strengthening accountability and by appointing capable, ethical leadership to serve in local government.

The ANC needs comrades equal to the task.

Our people need a reliable water supply.

People need potholes fixed, people need streetlights to work, and people need their refuse to be collected regularly, among many other services that are provided by municipalities.

The ANC needs leaders equal to this task.

In this season of political migration, I appeal to members of the ANC in the Eastern Cape to remember that they joined the ANC not for positions, not for personal gain, but for a mission of improving the lives of our people and to advance the mission of building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.

The 2026 local government elections will come and go, and the ANC will remain.

Cadres of the ANC must resist the opportunism of leaving the movement at this crucial time when unity, discipline and renewal are our rallying mantra.

To every cadre who feels uncertain, who feels frustrated, who feels tempted to walk away, we say stay the course, help to rebuild our movement and serve diligently in your branch.

The future of local government and the future of the communities we serve do not depend on those who are easily swayed like reed grass (iingcongolo) but are shaped by cadres who are principled and loyal to the cause of transformation.

The ANC has faced greater storms before than the current ones, and it prevailed.

It will also prevail from this episode of difficulties, through the loyalty, courage and right actions of its members — members who are grounded on purpose rather than positions.

We need loyal cadres more than ever before as we continue with the important work of improving service delivery for everyone that the ANC-led government started in 1994.

As we edge closer to the municipal polls, the ANC must be united. Let us close ranks and work together for the betterment of our communities.

The unity of the ANC is sacrosanct so we must soldier on and stay the course.

Regardless of whether you emerge as a councillor-candidate or not, let us be united and work as a unit.

Let us stay the course, comrades.