This is a far cry from 15 years ago when the party would easily fill two stadiums for the same event.
The party leaders blamed the State Security Agency (SSA) for allegedly hijacking control of the event, denying access to vehicles carrying T-shirts and food parcels, and stopping buses carrying supporters. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula apologized for the delayed start, citing traffic disruptions and heat. In his address, Ramaphosa acknowledged weak municipal governance and failing service delivery as key factors contributing to the decline in public trust in the ANC.The ANC president said there are six tasks that the party would like to focus on in this year.
“First, we must focus on fixing local government and improving basic services. Secondly, we must speed up economic transformation inclusive growth and job creation.“Thirdly, we must wage war on crime and corruption and tackle gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster.Fourthly, we must build a South Africa that belongs to all through the national dialogue process as well as the thirtieth anniversary of our constitution. “Fifthly, we must make organisational renewal visible and irreversible and finally we must build a better Africa and a better world if we execute these six tasks, we will be able to see progress.”Ramaphosa said ending load shedding was one of the tasks he had given in last year’s January 8 statement.
He remarked that he was pleased that this is now a reality.However, there is municipal load reduction that continues to disrupt daily life.Sometimes there are power outages because of illegal connections.”He said government must ensure that where there are power outages, the work to get the lights back on happens with urgency. Ramaphosa emphasised that municipalities should be able to collect rates, saying they should strengthen their billing systems. He added that they must also honour their debts to other state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like Eskom and Rand Water.About The Author
