South Africa's African National Congress (ANC), the liberation movement that brought Nelson Mandela to power, said it was facing a crisis over corruption, poor governance, and persistent racial inequality, and pledged to clean up its act.

Although the largest party in government, the ANC was forced into a coalition last year after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994. That defeat has prompted soul-searching.

Wrapping up a strategy conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, the party endorsed a declaration that identified corruption, factionalism, poor service delivery, and slow progress in reducing poverty among its failures.

"The apartheid-colonial political economy remains largely intact," it admitted, with Black South Africans vastly disadvantaged compared with the small white minority.

"We understand our struggle to be at a fork in the road, and thus, we can either renew or perish," the party said, vowing to set itself performance targets across a range of issues.

The ANC faces municipal elections in 2026 that it sees as a key test of its standing. While still revered by many for ending white minority rule, the party has lost support among younger voters fed up with a lack of progress and a culture of cronyism.

The second-biggest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), favours free-market economics and wants to scrap the ANC's racial redress policies, which have also been criticised by US President Donald Trump.

"This will be an important test of the extent to which we have managed to renew the support and confidence of our people," President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC's leader, told the conference.

He said the party was making progress in rebuilding a culture of integrity, citing greater compliance with its "step aside" rule that requires members accused of wrongdoing to relinquish their posts.