Throughout this period, Godlimpi remained a prominent figure in the ANCYL. In 2019 he was a leader of the internal campaign to have Collen Maine's ANCYL leadership corps disbanded.[4][5] After that campaign succeeded, he was viewed as a possible candidate to succeed Maine as national president of the ANCYL.[5] Such speculation intensified in the run-up to the league's next national elective conference,[6][7] especially after Godlimpi became one of three candidates – the others being Aphiwe Mkhangelwa and Collen Malatji – who received sufficient nominations to stand on the ballot paper.[8] He did not stand for the presidency and Malatji was elected unopposed, but in the interim Godlimpi served as spokesperson of the Eastern Cape branch of the ANCYL between 2021 and 2022.[3]
ANC National Executive Committee: 2022–2024
In December 2022, Godlimpi attended the 55th National Conference of the mainstream ANC, where he was elected to a five-year term as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC). By number of votes received, he was ranked 54th of the 80 ordinary members elected, receiving 1,172 votes across 4,029 ballots.[9]
The youngest member of the newly elected NEC,[10] Godlimpi was touted as a possible candidate to replace Pule Mabe as the ANC's national spokesperson.[11] Instead, at the NEC's first meeting in February 2023, he was elected as deputy chairperson of the influential NEC subcommittee on economic transformation, serving under subcommittee chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi.[12][13] Meanwhile, later in 2023, he left his former job in the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance to join the Office of the Eastern Cape Premier; he served as a special adviser to Premier Oscar Mabuyane until the next general election in May 2024.[3]
National government: 2024–present
Ahead of the May 2024 general election, Godlimpi stood as an ANC candidate, ranked 21st on the party's national list.[1] He was elected to a seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament.[14] He also served as acting national spokesperson of the ANC during the subsequent government formation negotiations while the incumbent spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu, took personal leave.[15]