<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNIVERSITY OF\nJOHANNESBURG, SOWETO CAMPUS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fellow South Africans, Comrades\nand Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n A week ago, millions of South\nAfricans went to the polls to cast their votes in the sixth local government\nelections since the advent of\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again, these elections were\nheld in conditions of peace and stability, where every citizen was able to cast\ntheir votes freely and without fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The holding of regular free and\nfair elections is one of the great strengths of our constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It gives meaning to the\ndeclaration in the Freedom Charter that \u201cno government can justly claim\nauthority unless it is based on the\nwill of all the people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the African National Congress,\nwe wish to congratulate and thank all South Africans who voted on Monday and on\nthe special voting days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every single vote counts, and\nevery single vote contributes to determining the path our country will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We wish to commend the\nIndependent Electoral Commission for mounting a massive logistical operation\nand ensuring a successful election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IEC did this under the\ndifficult conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic cast doubt\non the viability of the elections\nand severely affected the election timetable and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a credit to the IEC, state\ninstitutions like the SAPS and all political parties that the election went\nahead and that it was so successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On behalf of the ANC leadership,\nwe wish to thank all the ANC candidates, staff, campaign workers and volunteers\nfor the extraordinary effort that\nthey put into this hard-fought election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With limited resources and with\npreparations hampered by COVID-19 restrictions, ANC volunteers carried out an\nintensive campaign across the length\nand breadth of the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the African National Congress,\nthis was probably the most difficult election campaign that we have had to\nundertake, and it is the worst\nelectoral outcome for the ANC in the 27 years of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the first time that the\nANC\u2019s share of the national vote has fallen below 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ANC\u2019s support declined in all\nprovinces and we only achieved an outright majority in two of the eight metro\nmunicipalities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The low voter turnout is of great\nconcern: only 46% of registered voters cast a ballot in this election, compared\nto 56% of registered voters in the\nlast two local elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the impact that such a low\nvoter turnout had on the ANC\u2019s performance, such a low turnout has grave\nimplications for our democracy, for\nbuilding an active citizenry and for the standing of our local government\ninstitutions. The ANC will be undertaking an\nextensive and detailed assessment of these election results and the factors\nthat were critical in determining\nthe outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there are many issues that\nwould have contributed to the outcome, we are the first to acknowledge that the\nmost critical factors are those that\nhave to do with the state of the ANC and our performance in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The poor state of many\nmunicipalities was a key factor to the decline in support for the ANC, which\nwas exacerbated by high levels of\nunemployment and poverty and serious concerns about crime and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We acknowledged many of the\nproblems in municipalities in our manifesto and on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We said that many municipalities\nhave not delivered as they should have; that there is corruption, waste and\nunder-spending in many councils; and\nthat in several communities, water is a major problem, electricity supply is\nnot stable, and refuse is not collected\nregularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have also recognised that\ndisunity, factionalism, corruption and patronage within the ANC itself has had\na significant impact on voters\u2019\nattitudes towards the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what is most\ncrucial is the link between the state of the ANC and the performance of\ngovernment at all levels. People\nfeel that a weak and divided ANC is incapable of addressing their needs and\nconcerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This election has sent a very\nclear and strong message to the ANC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five-and-a-half million South\nAfricans voted for the ANC in these elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They reaffirmed their\nconfidence in the ANC to lead their municipalities and to provide the services\nthey need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through their votes they said\nthat they continue to support our movement, but that they expect us to correct\nour mistakes, to restore our values,\nand to serve the people more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same\ntime, millions of people who voted for the ANC in the past chose to stay away\nfrom the polls. They chose to stay\naway rather than cast their votes for any other party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In doing, so\nthey made a powerful statement about their disappointment, discontent and\nfrustration with the ANC. By not\nvoting, they have sent a clear message, that the ANC is not living up to their\nexpectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, they have said\nthat the ANC must fix its own problems if it is to be trusted to effectively\nserve the needs and the interests of\nthe people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people of\nSouth Africa have spoken. They have\nspoken loudly and we have heard. We\ndo not celebrate our losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We respect the message we have\nreceived from voters and will act with urgency and purpose to correct our\nmistakes and significantly improve\nour performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those South Africans that voted\nfor us and those that stayed away have \u2013 in different ways \u2013 both given us a\nfirm instruction to undertake\nwithout any further delay the fundamental renewal of our movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renewal and rebuilding will be\nour overriding organisational priority as we emerge from this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recognise that if we are to\nregain the confidence of the people we need to change in far-reaching and\nfundamental ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Voters have sent a clear message\nthat we need to focus on governance, on ridding councils of corruption and maladministration, and on making sure\nthat services are provided reliably and affordably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is our immediate task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that the election results\nhave been declared, we are focusing our efforts on establishing progressive and\ndevelopmental local government in as\nmany parts of the country as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we have seen a decline in\nour support, the reality is that the ANC is still, by a significant margin, the\nmost popular political organisation\nin the country, with nationwide support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have received more than 10.6\nmillion votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have more\nthan 4,500 local government seats and an outright majority in 167 councils. We are the largest party in every metro,\nexcept Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results of this election\nprovide us with a firm mandate to implement the commitments we made in our\nelection manifesto in municipalities\nacross the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also gives us a solid\nfoundation to enter coalition agreements in those municipalities where we did\nnot win an outright majority, but\nwhere we nevertheless have substantial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fundamental consideration\nthat informs any agreement we enter into with other parties is whether it will\nenable us to implement our electoral\nmandate and contribute to the improvement of the lives of the residents in that\nmunicipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will not enter into coalitions\nat all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our decisions will be\nprincipled, political and strategic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we enter into coalitions, we\nwill insist that coalition relationships are structured, that there are clear\ncoalition agreements in place and\nthat the contents of agreements are known to voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We want\ncoalitions that are stable, credible and have an agreed programme of work that\ndelivers what communities need. Another\nimmediate task is to elect mayors and other senior office bearers who are\ncapable, experienced and committed. We\nhave adopted a comprehensive set of criteria for Mayors, Speakers and other\npolitical office-bearers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later this week, we will be\nundertaking a series of rigorous interviews of prospective candidates conducted\nby members of the National Executive\nCommittee and other ANC cadres with experience in local government and\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These interview\npanels will be considering candidates\u2019 qualifications and relevant experience. Among other things,\nthey need to understand the social and economic drivers\nof local government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They need knowledge of budgeting\nand financial management and a firm grasp of the legal context of local\ngovernment<\/p>\n\n\n\n Above all, they need to be\nleaders in good standing: honest, people with integrity and high ethical\nstandards; no criminal record; no\npending corruption charges; and they must be rooted and grounded in the\ncommunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The changes that people want to\nsee at a local level will be led by the thousands of ANC councillors who will\nsoon be taking office and many who\nwill soon be forming new councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first time, all ANC\ncouncillors will sign deployment contracts which clearly outline their roles\nand responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No ANC councillor will be sworn\nin without entering into the Contract of Deployment, and the ANC will recall\nany public representative that does\nnot honour this contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through their actions \u2013 from the\nmoment they are elected to the day they leave office \u2013 we expect our\ncouncillors to demonstrate that the\nANC is committed and able to respond to people\u2019s daily concerns and needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All ANC councillors must\nremember, throughout the next five years, the solemn pledge that they made to\nthe people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are starting now to implement our electoral mandate, and working to ensure that communities start to feel the difference in their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An immediate priority in every\nmunicipality where we govern is to ensure that all residents have reliable and\naffordable electricity, water and\nsanitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the District Development Model, we will align the work of national, provincial and local government to ensure that\nplanning and budgeting is properly coordinated and service delivery is\nimproved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ANC\u2019s 54th National\nConference in December 2017 provided a directive to the entire leadership and\nmembership of our movement. It said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOrganisational renewal\u2026 is an\nabsolute and urgent priority, and we may go as far as to say, is essential to\nthe survival of our great movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, with these election results,\nwe also have a clear mandate from the people of South Africa for fundamental\nrenewal and rebuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the ANC, we\nare not discouraged by the results of these elections. We are not despondent or defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people of South Africa have\nspoken, clearly and powerfully, about what we need to do to regain their trust\nand to earn their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are more determined than ever\nbefore to unite our movement, to correct our mistakes, to root out corruption\nand nepotism, and to be more\naccountable and more responsive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through everything that we do\nnow, we will show that we are serious about fixing local government and that we\nare determined to build the ANC as\nan ever more effective instrument of meaningful and lasting change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG, SOWETO CAMPUS Fellow South Africans, Comrades and Friends, A week ago, millions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100,96,550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anc","category-elections","category-president-cyril-ramaphosa"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.ipan.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ANC_African-National-Congress.png?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2316,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions\/2316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipan.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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