The African National Congress (ANC) is asking itself how it can stay relevant to an educated middle class that is showing signs of not caring about elections or the party.

“How does the ANC communicate with middle class, academically realised groups and how does it show such groups respect?” the party asks in one of its discussion documents for its June policy conference.

A growing black middle class might be good for the national democratic revolution, but it has fast become a challenge for the ANC.

The party asks how it can attract more middle-class supporters while remaining loyal to its values.

“Modern organisational design principles dictate that old organisations falter and die because they cannot adapt,” the party observes.

This is contained in its organisational renewal draft document prepared ahead of its policy conference.

“There is an emerging threat to the ANC’s influence and appeal to young intellectuals and the black middle class.”

President Jacob Zuma has himself criticised these so-called “clever blacks”.

The party has admitted it has to reconnect with the middle class to reverse its poor showing in the 2016 local government elections. The party suffered declining support across the country and lost control of the Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay metros.

The ANC said the distance between itself and the middle class could be due to the lack of reliance on the state. It believes this has resulted in some disinterest in elections and their outcome.

“They are meant to be a catalyst to the campaign for economic transformation in a manner that transcends the narrow self-interest of the elite empowerment,” the ANC says of its aspirations for the group.

The party will make all its discussion documents public on Sunday.