Delegates at the ANC's national policy conference needed to look at how to transform the party's branches, President Jacob Zuma, who is also the party leader, said on Tuesday.
“You need to change the structure of the branches,” Zuma told reporters at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, where the ANC is holding its four-day national policy conference in Johannesburg.
“What are their duties and tasks?,” he asked.
Zuma said the ANC needed to be everywhere so it knew where the challenges were, and then it could advise the government.
This issue of ANC branches formed part of the discussion on organisational renewal.
Zuma said delegates had to find remedies as a collective. ANC members needed to ensure the party was “alert and effective” so it could deal with issues.
The ANC's deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise said the party had always adapted.
“Look at the ANC today. It is not the same as the 70s.”
The ANC had to recognise what was happening around it, especially in the age of e-mail and social networking sites like Twitter, Modise said. - Sapa