2024-04-27 19:42:00
(Keystone-ATS) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday celebrated South Africa’s successes since the ANC came to power 30 years ago. He was speaking a month before elections where the ruling party could for the first time lose an absolute majority.
“South Africa is infinitely better today than it was 30 years ago,” said Mr. Ramaphosa in a speech to mark “Freedom Day” in Pretoria. This day marks 30 years of democracy after the end of the apartheid regime.
South Africans are called to the polls on May 29 to renew their Parliament, which will choose the next president. Aged 71, the head of state took the opportunity to list the improvements made by the ANC, which is struggling in the polls.
“We continued land reform, distributing millions of hectares of land to those who had been forcibly dispossessed,” he said. “We have built houses, clinics, hospitals, roads, bridges, dams and many other facilities. We brought electricity, water and sanitation to millions of South African homes.”
Corruption and the economy
But according to an Ipsos poll published Friday, the ruling party, which obtained more than 57% of the vote in the last national elections in 2019, fell to just over 40%. If it obtained less than 50%, the ANC would be forced to find coalition partners to stay in power.
The ANC is seeing its popularity erode due to an image tarnished by corruption cases and a gloomy socio-economic climate. At the beginning of April, the former President of Parliament and ruling party figure Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was arrested and charged with thirteen counts of corruption and money laundering.
Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday acknowledged the existence of these problems, but denounced his critics as people who willfully “turn a blind eye”. “We have made a lot of progress and we are determined to do a lot more,” he said.
“Nightmares”
“They promised us dreams, but they only gave us nightmares,” accused John Steenhuisen, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), in a speech. “True freedom is only possible when you have a job that allows you to meet the needs of your family and build a better future.”
According to the Ipsos poll, the Alliance would win nearly 22% of the vote. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF, radical left) are expected to win 11.5% of the vote, ahead of the uMkhonto we Sizwe party (MK, 8.4%), led by ex-president Jacob Zuma.
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