South Africa's constitutional democracy is structured as a proportional representation system where the ruling party's president becomes the country's president. This means that the ANC's internal elections effectively determine who governs the country. The corruption of the ANC's internal democratic processes therefore has direct implications for national governance.
The pattern of internal election fraud has been documented across multiple conference cycles. At the 2007 Polokwane conference, where Jacob Zuma defeated Thabo Mbeki for the ANC presidency, there were widespread allegations of branch rigging, ghost members, and bulk membership purchases. The Zuma faction was accused of buying memberships in bulk in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, then using ghost members to stack branch general meetings and select pro-Zuma delegates.
The 2012 Mangaung conference followed a similar pattern. The Free State, under then-provincial chairman Ace Magashule, was particularly problematic — with allegations that entire branches were created specifically to produce delegates for the conference. The North West under Supra Mahumapelo faced similar allegations.
By the 2017 Nasrec conference — where Cyril Ramaphosa narrowly defeated Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma by 179 votes (2,440 to 2,261) — both factions were accused of manipulating branch processes. Court challenges were filed in multiple provinces. In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC's own credentials committee found irregularities in delegate lists.
The mechanics include: bulk purchasing of memberships using provincial government or business funds (at R20 per membership, 10,000 memberships costs only R200,000); registration of deceased persons, minors, or people who have not consented; manipulation of Branch General Meetings through gatekeeping and intimidation; inflation of delegate numbers from compliant branches; and the creation of "pop-up branches" that exist solely for conference purposes.
The Polokwane outcome put Jacob Zuma in power, leading directly to the state capture era. The Mangaung outcome extended Zuma's presidency for a second term. In 2023, the ANC's own National Disciplinary Committee acknowledged that branch manipulation remained "endemic." The party's decline to 40.2% in the 2024 elections was partly attributed to voters' disillusionment with internal corruption.