Inside Education Reporter
Thousands of ANC supporters filled the stadium to the brim to listen to their leader Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the party’s manifesto ahead of the country’s crucial general national and provincial elections in May.
Ramaphosa reminded loyal party supporters that over the last 30 years, the people of South Africa, led by the ANC, have been at the forefront of a movement to construct a new South Africa.
“Our country has come a long way. We have made incredible strides and achieved so much. However, even after 30 years of freedom and democracy, our journey towards the South Africa that our people truly desire is far from over. We still have more hills to climb.
“In the 2024 elections, we will therefore go beyond celebrating accomplishments. We learn from the past, from mistakes and setbacks, as we learn from achievements.
“We will focus on six priorities that are critical to speeding up transformation and improving the lives of the people: our jobs plan; building our industries to include an inclusive economy; tackling the high cost of living; investing in people; defending democracy and advancing freedom; and building a better Africa and world.
“We will do better, we will do more and we will do it faster. Together.
“At the same time, there are forces that seek to use this election to undo the progress of democracy. It is crucial that together we defend our hard-won freedom”.
By renewing the mandate of the ANC, we build on the foundations of the 30 years of freedom. We continue the journey towards a better life with equal opportunities for all South Africans, now and into the future, he said.
“Together, we will accomplish so much more”.
The ANC Manifesto Launch had culminated in a big party and festivities where different artists were performing including a group of Zulu traditional dancers.
Then different speakers, mainly women, came to the fore to testify about their achievements in the last 30 years through the government’s subsistence grants such as old age pensions, child support grants and education funding such as NSFAS.
Some of the women were in fields such as aviation, arts, medicine, engineering, teaching and other career opportunities that were not available to black South Africans before the 1st National General Elections in 1994.
South Africans will go to the polls on 29 May in one of the highest contested elections since 1994 and KwaZulu-Natal, with the highest number of voters registered, is regarded as a king marker in that whoever wins the majority there, has a better chance of winning the elections.
The EFF was the first party to hold a manifesto launch at the same venue and the IFP is expected to launch its manifesto in Johannesburg.
Inside Politics
