Makhura cautions ANC not to be complacent as it regains public confidence

Acting ANC Gauteng chairperson David Makhura, who is also the premier of the province, said the party was steadily regaining the support of voters who shunned it during the 2016 local government elections.

The party lost all the major metros in the province except Ekurhuleni during the 2016 elections.

Addressing delegates at the organisation’s 13th provincial conference today, Makhura said the positive gains made by the party can be attributed to the election of a new national leadership last December which set the ANC “on a course to self-correction”.

He said communities who had turned their backs on the ANC are now returning to the party in large numbers.

“Our people are once again associating with the ANC. The masses are responding positively to the corrective steps being taken by our national leadership collective to restore the integrity of the ANC and various state institutions which were severely compromised by state capture,” the acting provincial chair said.

Makhura said according to recent polling data, the ANC is steadily regaining public confidence, with the public having a renewed hope in the party, with a positive mood sweeping the country and the province.

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“However, we must not be complacent. We still have a long way to go to regain the full confidence of our people,” he said.

Makhura said the social and economic situation in the country at the moment, especially the escalating cost of living, can be a serious drawback to the strides the party has made.

“Comrade delegates, it is therefore urgent that this conference builds on the positive momentum sparked by our 54th national conference,” he said.

The premier said the party could not go back to focusing on its internal problems instead of paying attention to being of service to the people.

He assured residents of the Gauteng province that their concerns will be discussed at the conference.

He said these concerns include the state of the economy and job creation, crime and corruption, education and health, housing and access to land, challenges faced by women and young people, the cost of living, e-tolls, transport problems, water and electricity problems, waste management problems, potholes as well as access to internet connectivity, in particular, the high cost of data.

“This is all what this conference is going to look at. These are the issues facing the people of our province and we must emerge from this conference with a solution,” Makhura said.

It is widely expected that Makhura will be elected ANC Gauteng chair at the elective conference.

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