The big announcements made in the lead-up to 2019 elections so far

In just over a month, South Africa will be headed to the polls to elect the nation’s sixth democratic government.

As such, there is a lot of movement on the political front as parties scramble to woo voters in an effort to secure the majority and emerge victoriously.

For the ruling party, this has involved a lot of legislative changes and announcements regarding the nation’s biggest problems.

We take a look at the biggest announcements that have been made in the lead-up to the elections.

Load shedding on hold

Hot on the heels of rolling blackouts that have been attributed to a failing system, South Africa has been promised that there will be no more load shedding for now.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the power utility said this was due to an improvement in plant performance,  replenished diesel and water reserves over the last few days as well as an increase of imports from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa to 850MW.

Though grateful for the constant power supply, South Africans have been rather suspicious of the timing of the announcement, especially since Eskom painted such a bleak picture of their power-generating abilities at the height of the load shedding crisis.

Leader of the opposition Mmusi Maimane echoed the public’s sentiments, stating that he believed the fact that load shedding had ended for now was only due to the fact national elections were coming up.

Maimane will also use this fact to woo public support and has called on South Africans to join him and his party on a march to the Union Buildings in an effort to pressure government to keep the lights on well beyond the election period.

Money freed up to handle historical NSFAS debt

Last week, Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor announced that R967 million was being allocated to settle the historic debt owed by students through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

“The allocated funds will be directed to more than 52,000 students who were registered with NSFAS prior to 2018 who had to fork out of their own pockets to cover the shortfall from the NSFAS allocation,” said the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union in a statement issued on Sunday welcoming the decision.

This move is supposedly being implemented in an effort to assist those who were excluded from continuing with their studies before the free education announcement was made two years ago as they did not qualify for the subsidy.

Amendment to section 25 of the constitution to be left to the sixth democratic government

Ahead of the legislative shutdown of the National Assembly prior to the 2019 elections, several laws were passed at the 11th hour.

Among these were the Public Audit Excess Fee Bill, Public Service Commission Amendment Bill, as well as the Films and Publications Amendment Bill.

One law that had been left until after the elections, however, was the controversial proposed amendment to section 25 of the constitution.

This highly contested change was proposed in an effort to make explicit the laws around expropriation of land without compensation as a legitimate option for land reform – something that many believe was used as a campaign promise by both the EFF and ANC.

Collection of e-tolls debt on hold

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) announced that it would “suspend the process of pursuing e-toll debt” with “immediate effect”.

“This includes historic debt and summonses applied for from 2015,” the agency confirmed on Wednesday.

Sanral’s decision reportedly followed a request from Ramaphosa to address the e-tolls payment impasse.

The agency also stated that it would continue to “monitor the situation”.

Corrupt ANC members in KZN shown the door

In the wake of murder charges filed against Harry Gwala District Municipality Mayor Mluleki Ndobe and the arrest of Newcastle Mayor Ntuthuko Mahlaba, the ANC has gone on record to say its members who are facing criminal charges must step aside from the positions they occupy in government.

Charges against Mluleki or the murder of former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) secretary Sindiso Magaqa have been provisionally withdrawn, citing a lack of evidence.

Mahlaba was arrested last week in connection with the May 2016 assassination of former ANCYL member Wandile Ngobeni and was allegedly linked to the attempted murder of another member.

Provincial secretary of the ANC Mdumiseni Ntuli said it was incumbent upon the ANC to take society into its confidence about how it responded to legal matters facing its members.

“All comrades charged with serious crimes must step aside from their positions of responsibility in government, pending the conclusion of their criminal cases. The decision is inspired by a commitment and determination to defend and advance the interests of our movement and that of the masses of our people,” Ntuli said.

He went on to explain that those who had been asked to step aside would be consulted within seven to 14 days and be given the opportunity to respond.

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