President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday embarked on a voter registration campaign in KwaDukuza on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. Picture: Twitter/@MYANC
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the election campaign ahead of the much-anticipated 2024 national and provincial elections is now in full swing.
Ramaphosa on Saturday was on the campaign trail in KwaDukuza on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast in his capacity as the president of the African National Congress (ANC).
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The president embarked on a voter registration campaign and also took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of late ANC president Chief Albert Luthuli.
Ramaphosa encouraged KwaDukuza residents to register in their numbers and vote for the governing party next year.
He said, unlike other political parties, the ANC was their only hope for a better life.
“Support the ANC. The election campaign has already started now,” said Ramaphosa, speaking in isiZulu.
He added: “Many others will come to you, not knowing what they’re talking about… They think they will remove the ANC from power and take over control.
“Others wear [red] overalls, while others dress in blue. We are telling them that will never happen because our people here in KwaDukuza, and other parts of the country, love the ANC.”
Ramaphosa made a wide range of promises to residents ranging from job creation, providing government subsidised houses, and ending the load shedding crisis.
“As the ANC, we are committed to making sure that the hardships you face as residents are dealt with. We know that there are no jobs and you want jobs; the ANC will create jobs for you.
“We know that another challenge you face is related to water. We will also attend to that.
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“The problem of the lack of electricity is another major issue out of all the other issues right now.
“I have appointed a new minister of electricity, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, who is seized with the issue of load shedding… you will see as we go forward that this will be dealt with,” he said.
Ramaphosa also brought up the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant. He said government was committed to continuing with the grant introduced during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
“We can see now that a lot of our people are not working and many lost their jobs during the pandemic. This R350 grant will continue this year.”
Ramaphosa also responded to criticism that his reconfigured Cabinet, announced on Monday, was bloated despite his repeated promises in the past to cut the size of the national executive.
He told the media on the sidelines of the campaign trail the new ministerial appointments – such as the minister of electricity as well as the minister of planning, monitoring and evaluation – were a temporary measure.
The president said South Africa was in a “rut” and he needed all hands on deck to address the country’s pressing socioeconomic challenges.
“What we are dealing with right now it’s a short-term, limited time [and] a process of getting us out of this rut. We are in a rut right now, we need to get out and I need more hands that are going to enable me to do that,” he said.
“Of course, the opposition is against this, but we have to govern.
“I have a responsibility as the president to make sure that the ANC governs and it governs in a way that will take the country forward.”
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