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‘Scared, terrified’: Ramaphosa will deliver last Sona for ANC – Steenhuisen
'He makes promises, but he never delivers.'
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen speaks during a media briefing on 16 August 2023. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen is confident that President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his last State of the Nation Address (Sona) as opposition aims to remove the African National Congress (ANC) from power at the 2024 general elections.
The Multi-Party Charter for South Africa held a rally at the Johannesburg City Hall on Thursday ahead of the second voter registration weekend.
‘ANC is terrified’
Addressing supporters at the Johannesburg City Hall, Steenhuisen said the country had grown tired of the ANC-led government for its failures.
“We are tired, as South Africans, of unemployment, we are tired of corruption, we are tired of broken promises and we are tired of politicians who don’t care about the people and only care about themselves,” he said.
The DA leader also took a swipe at the president and the governing party.
“There’s a man who calls himself the president of South Africa and he hides away in the Union Buildings and he never does anything. He makes promises, but he never delivers anything and you know what, he is scared and his party is terrified because they know that on the 8th of February that he will be delivering the last State of the Nation Address for the ANC.
“He is terrified and his party is so scared of all of us coming together from different parties, putting aside our differences and working together towards a common goal because we love our country and we want to rescue our country. He is so terrified that they are already trying to find excuses about why they lost the elections,” Steenhuisen continued.
He further called on the Multi-Party Charter supporters to “fight in every corner” ahead of the national and provincial elections.
“We are going to take our message of hope and change to every South African, to every community, wherever you have been before, whatever you have done before, it’s time to unite with the Multi-Party Charter because together we can win,” the DA leader added.
‘New government’
Meanwhile, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Velenkosini Hlabisa highlighted the importance of this year’s elections.
“2024 is a moment for South Africans to fundamentally change the trajectory of our country by unseating a failed government and empowering a new government.
“For the first time in 30 years since the 1994 elections, the ruling party is likely to lose the majority [and] if that happens a coalition opposition of parties stands ready to form a new government.
READ MORE: Multi-Party Charter shopping for a presidential candidate?
“We have not linked up ourselves randomly but have carefully chosen the people we will work with ensuring that the government we form is underpinned by values, principles and solutions that the IFP champions,” the IFP leader said.
Hlabisa stressed that the ANC-led government was failing young people in particular.
“It is our youth who suffer the most. A failing education system bars young people from developing their potential. A failing economy keeps our youth away from work… quite clearly change is needed.”
Watch the rally below:
In December, the Multi-Party Charter welcomed two new parties, Ekhethu People’s Party (EPP) and the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP), taking up the total number to 10.
The pre-election coalition pact consists of ActionSA, IFP, FF+ and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), among other parties.
Voter registration
The second voter registration weekend will take place between 8am and 5pm on 3 and 4 February.
More than 23 300 registration stations will be open across all provinces.
While there are currently 27 million eligible voters on the voters’ roll, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is targeting 39.7 million people for the elections.
The IEC indicated on Wednesday that it recorded 200 000 new online registrations since the first voter registration weekend held in November last year.
Overall, 498 000 eligible voters registered between November and 30 January this year.
At least 2.7 million people visited voting stations, while 196 000 used the online portal in the first registration weekend.
NOW READ: IEC recorded nearly 500 000 registrations since last voter registration weekend
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