There can be no doubt after the local government election results of last year that the governing ANC is in deep political trouble.

Many analysts take for granted that in 2024 there is a real possibility of the ANC receiving less than 50% of the national vote, ushering in an era of coalition politics nationally and provincially. This is premised on the assumption that the ANC cannot be saved from terminal electoral decline.

In this episode of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, well-known and experienced former journalists Thabo Shole-Mashao and Lance Claasen joined Eusebius to examine the possibility of the ANC recovering from its steady electoral decline of recent times.

They explored whether the political brand of the ANC is irredeemably and near fatally damaged by the effects of state capture on the reputation of the governing party. They also debated whether the leadership crisis in the ANC, both the ethical and technocratic dimensions, can be fixed before 2024 or whether that is an impossible task.

Lastly, drawing on the public relations, communications and reputation management expertise of both guests (in their post-journalism careers), this episode ended with a provocative question posed by the host: “Assuming the ANC cannot fix its problems before 2024, what is the best strategy to convince voters not to abandon the party?”