ANC kickstarts election season

ANC kickstarts election season

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to unveil the ruling ANC party's election manifesto on Saturday in front of tens of thousands of supporters, marking the start of four months of hectic campaigning.

Cyril Ramaphosa ANC in KZN
Twitter: @CyrilRamaphosa

The African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled since the end of apartheid 25 years ago, is tipped to win the vote despite faltering support, internal divisions and a sluggish economy.


The party of Nelson Mandela suffered a slump in popularity under the scandal-ridden presidency of Jacob Zuma, who was ousted last February after nine years at the helm.


But a recent IPSOS survey predicted the ANC could garner as much as 61 percent of the vote in May's national and provincial elections.


At the legislative level, that would put it on a par with its performance in 2014, when it picked up 62 percent. In South Africa's parliament, the party which wields a majority of seats also selects the president.


The forecast upswing is pinned on the appointment of moderate pro-business reformer Ramaphosa as president after ANC lawmakers forced Zuma to resign as corruption scandals piled up.


"We recognise that in recent times, our movement has fallen short of our people's expectations," Ramaphosa said in an address earlier this week marking 107 years since the party was founded.


"In this manifesto, we have a clear plan for growth and faster progress... It is a plan to unite the country, grow the economy, create jobs and reduce inequality."


On Saturday, the party expects 85,000 activists to turn out at a soccer stadium in the coastal city of Durban for the launch of the manifesto.


In a bruising internal party battle, Ramaphosa won a power struggle to succeed Zuma, whose favoured candidate was Zuma's former wife.


Senior party officials have this week fanned out across the surrounding Kwa-Zulu Natal province, spreading the message of a revived and unified party.


Party revival?

"We are confident that this manifesto will lead to the renewal of the mandate of the ANC to govern," ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule told reporters.


"The unity is there. It is visible."


Launching its election manifesto in heavily-populated KwaZulu-Natal -- Zuma's home province and former stronghold -- is a strategic choice after last year's divisions.


Ramaphosa has publicly tried to mend ties, sitting next to Zuma and praising him at party events.


In policy terms, the manifesto is set to underline the ANC's commitment to land reform to tackle racial inequality -- setting the stage for one of the election's fiercest battlegrounds.


One of Ramaphosa's flagship pledges is to change the constitution to allow land to be taken from minority white owners without compensation -- a plan aimed at attracting landless black voters but that has alarmed many foreign investors.


The South African economy is forecast to have grown just 0.7 percent last year, with unemployment remaining at record highs of over 27 percent.


The ANC will face the main opposition Democratic Alliance and the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters party in the election.


Both parties hope to make gains due to the ANC's poor recent record and discontent over stark post-apartheid inequality.


But they have struggled to dent the ruling party since Zuma's fall.


"We are definitely going to win the election," said Lungile Nogabe, a ANC supporter and businessman after driving to Durban from the central city of Bloemfontein.


"We lost support as our members were disappointed, especially by corruption. Now that we have a new president, you will see wonders."

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