The African National Congress (ANC) will act against councillors who do not do their jobs, President Jacob Zuma said on Monday, urging voters to follow former president Nelson Mandela’s example and cast their ballot in the local government elections.
“Anyone not doing what they are asked to do by the government, we are going to take action,” Zuma told Riverlea residents.
“If anyone of us … mess up, people don’t blame us as individuals, they blame the ANC.
“We are not going to allow comrades to mess up, we are going to take action.”
The community cheered as Zuma said that “this time around”, the ANC would do things “differently”.
“We must take the municipalities, but at the same time we must pay attention to our comrades we give responsibility to.
“We are going to take action … this time around we are going to talk to the councillors so you are not discouraged at the end that people are not doing their work.”
Monitoring of all three spheres of government would be strengthened after the May 18 polls, he said.
Zuma urged the community members to vote for the ANC, which he said was the only party with a “history and a future”.
“The ANC brings hope … the more the ANC has votes, the more energy it has to move forward,” he said.
‘Follow in Mandela’s footsteps’
Zuma called on all South Africans to follow former president Nelson Mandela’s example and use their vote in the local government elections on Wednesday.
“The first president of the free and democratic South Africa has led by example. We must now learn from him as we always do and go out in our millions to vote,” Zuma said in a statement on Monday.
Mandela cast an early ballot at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, on Monday morning.
Independent Elections Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam told the Associated Press that the 92-year-old statesman and Nobel peace laureate voted privately under observation of officials.
She said Mandela looked “healthy and handsome” as he cast his vote.
Zuma congratulated Mandela on casting his vote and urged South Africans to follow in his footsteps and use their democratic right to vote.
Zuma said the Independent Electoral Commission had assured him that all systems were in place and that voting stations would be ready on Wednesday morning.
Zuma will cast his vote at the Ntolwane Primary School in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, at 9am. — Sapa
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