Lessons from the Catholic Church the ANC must learn - John Endres - Biznews

John Endres

How has the Catholic Church, the oldest continuously existing institution in the world, survived for so long?

Two thousand years have passed since its founding, and it remains a central force in the lives of over a billion people.

Its secret lies in its capacity to adapt to a changing world without losing its essential identity. It has survived by not remaining static, but by navigating change prudently and with clarity of purpose.

Most organisations do not achieve this. Those that fail to change when circumstances demand it eventually disappear. The graveyard of institutions and organisations is littered with once-dominant names now long forgotten.

But even those that do adapt face a paradox of continuity: how much change can an organisation undergo before it becomes something else entirely? This is the dilemma captured in the ancient thought experiment of Theseus’s ship—if every plank is replaced over time, is it still the same ship?

The challenge is even more complicated when we remember that organisations are made up of people. For change to occur, it is the people making up the organisation who must drive and support it.

Resist change
People resist change because they fear losing an important part of their identity associated with the organisation. Other obstacles to change include inertia and complacency – “but this is how we’ve always done it” – as well as the vested interests of those who benefit from the status quo.

Leadership, therefore, plays a decisive role in letting organisations adapt and survive. The task of a successful leader is to read the moment, anticipate the future, and formulate a vision that ensures the organisation can navigate the transition without unmooring itself from its founding purpose.

Very few leaders achieve this. This is why so few institutions last.

The African National Congress (ANC) is fond of describing itself as Africa’s oldest liberation movement. Founded in 1912, it boasts a deep historical legacy, which it commemorates annually with reverence. It regards itself as the organisation that led South Africa out of apartheid and into democracy.

But today, the ANC faces the very challenge that has undone so many long-standing institutions: the need for change.

The political environment around it has shifted dramatically. After decades of electoral dominance, the ANC has lost its national majority. It is bleeding support to breakaway parties. Julius Malema’s EFF has siphoned off radical populist sentiment since its formation in 2013. More recently, Jacob Zuma’s newly established MK party has peeled away another substantial chunk of the party’s traditional base. This erosion of support is not a temporary setback—it is a structural fragmentation.

Financial crisis
The ANC is also battling a severe financial crisis. Internally, it is wracked by factionalism and uncertainty. Externally, it is facing growing reputational damage: its pro-poverty economic policies are destructive, its racialised policy agenda finds little support among significant parts of the electorate, and its association with grand corruption scandals has tarnished whatever moral authority it once claimed. Even the United States, once a[GU1]  key diplomatic partner, has grown increasingly critical of the ANC’s governance and foreign policy stance.

Confronted with these pressing challenges, the party’s leadership has failed to present a credible response.

Rather than reassessing its path, the ANC under President Ramaphosa has chosen to double down on its commitment to the National Democratic Revolution.

His presidency has offered continuity in all the wrong ways, by ratcheting up race-based legislation in public procurement and hiring, by eroding property rights, by hiking taxes, and by creating a legislative environment that makes South Africa toxic for investment.

Instead of recognising that coalition politics demand compromise, the ANC has acted as if it were still governing alone, as though the loss of its majority were a temporary inconvenience rather than a structural shift in South African politics.

Blindness
There is a telling blindness at the heart of the party. Whether through denial, indecision, or sheer internal paralysis, the ANC has yet to acknowledge the scale of the crisis it faces. Worse, it appears to believe that its historical credentials will continue to shield it from political accountability. But history is not a shield—it is only ever a foundation. If not built upon wisely, it crumbles.

What the ANC needs now is not nostalgia, but leadership. It needs to understand that the political environment of 2025 is not that of 1994, nor even of 2004. It must decide what it wants to be in this new era. If it fails to change, its future is already written. As with so many institutions that failed to evolve, it will eventually fade into irrelevance. But if it can grasp the urgency of the moment and lead the charge in building a pro-growth coalition, it might still have time to remake itself—to steer the ship before it sinks.

Adapt or die. That is the choice before the ANC.

John Endres is the CEO of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR). He holds a doctorate in commerce and economics from one of Germany’s leading business schools, the Otto Beisheim School of Management, as well as a Master’s in Translation Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. John has extensive work experience in the retail and services industries as well as the non-profit sector, having previously worked for the liberal Friedrich Naumann Foundation and as founding CEO of Good Governance Africa, an advocacy organisation

https://www.biznews.com/sarenewal/endres-lessons-catholic-church-anc-must-learn

This article was first published on the Daily Friend.