ANC members have until end 2026 to complete mandatory political education course - Ramaphosa

JOHANNESBURG - African National Congress (ANC) members will have until December 2026 to complete a mandatory internal course focusing on political education.

The course aims to equip the party’s leaders with essential skills to manage the organisation and to govern effectively.

On Monday, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa launched the programme at its special national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the Birchwood Hotel, in Boksburg. 

The ANC hopes to implement its political education course across all its structures, including branches, leagues, and national leadership, by January 2025.

The programme consists of five modules, some of which will focus on the history of the ANC, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the functions of an ANC branch.

Ramaphosa stated that the foundational course can be completed in any official South African language.

“Education has a number of benefits. It deepens our understanding of the country we live in, its own history and it gives us the tools of analysts.”

Former Gauteng ANC chairperson David Makhura is among those who will lead the political education course. 

Makhura said the programme also serves as a quality control measure. 
  
"Everyone who wants to join the ANC now will also have to write a letter of motivation on why they want to join the ANC," said Makhura.
 
The introduction of the political education programme was the last item on the party’s four-day-long special NEC meeting.