The 2024 general elections were the most difficult elections since 1994, so the ANC would do everything possible to ensure a victory post May 29, political analyst Andrew Duvenage has said.
“It is a comprehensive plan on the side of the ANC to prepare for these elections. This is the most difficult, challenging elections since 1994.
“I have no doubt that the ANC will play and do everything they can to secure the desired results. We are seeing that with the current NHI bill President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign it into law,” he said.
Duvenage was reacting to the statement that the ANC was using its ministers to fast-track service delivery to communities before the elections.
ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe said that even if it were the case that the party was feeling pressured because of the looming elections, it was not like the gains the communities benefited from could be reversed.
Mantashe said it was immaterial whether people were receiving services in response to elections, adding that it was not like the ANC would remove the service after the elections.
“We are not going to do that. That development is inherent – it is there. People can say a lot of things but the reality is that there is a positive impact that comes with this period,” he said.
The election cycle has come with its fair share of ribbon-cutting, job opportunities, transformers for many communities across parts of Soweto and Kagiso, as well as continuous supply of electricity for most.
In many parts of the communities where there was little to no service delivery, services were suddenly getting a new lease of life.
Mantashe dismissed the notion that the ANC was prioritising Soweto residents more than any other residents in the province.
Duvenage said the tactics of bringing services to the people at this time was not new to the governing party, adding that they would go to the extreme as a result of the crises the country found itself in politically, socially and economically.
The Star