By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
His government is plagued by load shedding, poor service delivery and rampant theft of public funds, but President Cyril Ramaphosa insists the ANC will get an outright majority in next year’s election.
He said his confidence comes from the loyal traditional ANC voters whom he said will once again guarantee victory for the party.
“The ANC is going to achieve an outright majority, so relax. We are not working towards being in a coalition,” he said. “We are confident we are going to emerge victorious.”
He said the majority of the people who had always voted for and supported the ANC still see it as the only vehicle to consolidate and improve the country.
“Only the ANC that started the transformation process can continue with the consolidation,” he told a publicengagement with the country’s media.
He said the ANC was still the only party in the country with wall-to-wall representation in all wards and voting districts.
The main opposition party, the DA, only has wall-to-wall representation in areas dominated by white people and other minority groups, according to the president. Even 30 years into democracy, there are still no DA offices in many black communities in townships and villages.
Ramaphosa said this as Eskom announced Stage 5 load shedding during the weekend despite mining companies, heavy industry and firms being closed or operating at reduced capacity.
Eskom said: “Following the loss of an additional four generating units and the requirement to replenish emergency reserves, Stage 5 load shedding will beimplemented on Sunday.”
This means the state is battling to supply enough electricity for basic needs like cooking and bathing in households across the country.
Affluent suburbs in the north of Johannesburg and Sandton lost six hours of electricity on Sunday while 12-hour blackouts were reported in some rural areas.
Of South Africa’s 257 municipalities, the auditor-general said only 38 receive clean audits; while over R32 billion has been racked up in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
At least 7.9 million people are unemployed in South Africa, with seven in 10 young people in the country unemployed.
Over 18 million people in South Africa are receiving social grants.
Caption: President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed editors and academics on the ANC election manifesto at the Sandton
Convention Centre on Saturday
Photo Source: @MYANC
