From ‘dirty votes’ to ancestral prayers: Nomvula Mokonyane under fire as ANC turns to spiritual intervention

“The ANC is willing to do anything to win elections except their job.”

This was one of many sarcastic social media reactions to ANC First Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane publicly calling on the “gods of the ANC” and party ancestors to forgive members and salvage the party’s fortunes ahead of the 4 November local government elections.

Speaking at the grave of one of the ANC’s founding fathers, Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Mokonyane urged party volunteers to embody Seme’s spirit on the campaign trail, asking the forebears to forgive the party where it has erred and give President Cyril Ramaphosa stature.

“Let the gods of the ANC be with us. Let the gods of the ANC forgive us because we did something and we didn’t stand for it. We ask the gods of the ANC to be with President Cyril Ramaphosa, for people to respect him and for him to have stature.

“Where we have erred, we come before them to say: ‘Be with us as we are on this path of renewal. Renewal also means getting these bones that are lying here to have life and walk with us wherever we are,” Daily Maverick reported Mokonyane as saying.

‘Only sorry because they’ve been found out!’

Reacting, one social media user said: “Who would the ancestral saint of corruption and looting be?”

“Only sorry because they’ve been found out!” Added another user.

A third user stated: “We have a ruling party that is supposed to govern South Africa, yet apparently still needs to call on the ancestors for help.”

Moral authority to invoke the name of the ANC ancestors?

With local government elections just weeks away, the ruling party finds itself battling growing public frustration over deteriorating municipal services and broken promises.

Political analyst Lesiba Teffo slammed Mokonyane’s spiritual appeal, pointing to her infamous 2013 outburst in Bekkersdal where she told protesting residents that the ANC did not need their “dirty votes”.

“She once walked on water, she once thought she could touch the sky, and she could insult the people when she said, ‘we do not need your stinking votes’,” Teffo told The Citizen.

“Does she have the moral authority to raise this question and even to invoke the name of the ANC ancestors? Leaders like Mandela and Sisulu would never have spoken to the people like that; that was the apex of political arrogance.”

Teffo added that Mokonyane is now being forced to “eat humble pie” and crawl back to the very voters she dismissed.

“The ancestors are angry; the people are angry… spare us from your crocodile tears”, he added.

Political analyst Prof. Ntsikelelo Breakfast told *The Citizen *that while religious and cultural beliefs must be respected, the ANC’s core challenge lies in its failure to deliver basic services like electricity and water.

Breakfast emphasised that the ANC needs to humble itself due to its poor track record.

“Older generations may vote out of political nostalgia, but younger voters judge the party strictly on its service delivery track record, an area where the ANC has consistently failed to improve,” he noted.

Will it help?

Mokonyane’s emotional plea comes as top leadership openly acknowledges the party’s severe electoral decline.

Earlier this year, Ramaphosa warned party members: “Too often, public trust in local government is undermined by councillors who are distant from their constituents and perceived as unresponsive to local problems. It is imperative that ANC councillors reconnect with their wards and restore public trust.”

Similarly, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula admitted to congregants in the Eastern Cape that South Africans will no longer give the ANC an “automatic mandate”, citing the party’s drop to 45.5% in the 2021 municipal elections and noting that only 15% of municipalities achieved clean audits.

However, the political analysts argue that invoking ancestral symbolism will do little to sway an increasingly disillusioned electorate.

They pointed to voters demanding accountability over empty promises and said no call to the ancestors will change that.