Johannesburg -
Residents of Munsieville, near Krugersdorp on the West Rand, on Saturday thanked the African National Congress for changing their lives.
“Today I have an RDP house and it's all due to the ANC government,” Dinah Mokgobane told ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.
“I don't know how to thank you for all you have done for me.”
Ramaphosa was conducting a door-to-door campaign to encourage people to register to vote in the upcoming elections.
Evelyn Mvengenya told Ramaphosa that her children went to no-fee schools and were fed.
“They also get grants which we are able to buy clothes with,” she said.
Ramaphosa said he was moved by the stories he had heard and the gratitude that was expressed.
“They were specific about what the ANC has done for them and the way it has improved their lives,” he said.
Ramaphosa gave Evelyn Lekgetho, who did not have a identity document, R140 to enable her to get one.
“I'm very happy that I'll have an ID by election time,” Lekgetho said.
She said it should not end with her.
“I hope it won't only be me that they help. They must help others like me,” she said.
Earlier in the Tudor informal settlement in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, Ramaphosa told the media that the protests that have engulfed the country were not an indication of dissatisfaction with the ANC but a plea to fast-track service delivery.
"Service delivery protests are a plea from our people to say that government should act with speed," Ramaphosa said.
"They have not abandoned the ANC."
He said the party had heard people's pleas and would act with the required urgency.
"I'm very confident that the protests are not disgruntlement with the ANC, but they (protesters) want us to act with speed.
"We are addressing the problems and we are facing our people without fear, and we will continue to do so," he said.
During his interactions with residents in Tudor, two major issues that were identified were housing and unemployment.
"Many people are saying housing is a problem and that the area they are in is dolomitic," he said.
He said plans were afoot to move them and to provide housing.
Many residents had expressed a desire to find work and to be able to provide for their families, and they had expressed gratitude for government grants.
"They are seeing improvements in their lives," Ramaphosa said.
The ANC will emerge victorious in the upcoming elections, he said.
"When we interact with people we find that the support for the ANC is enormous," he said. "We will emerge victorious."
President Jacob Zuma announced on Friday that the fifth national general elections would be held on May 7. - Sapa