ANC message of renewal ‘not convincing enough’ - Makhura
The African National Congress's (ANC) Gauteng chairperson David Makhura believes up to 50% of the party’s supporters failed to show up at voting stations around the country.
Makhura addressed the first day of trade union Nehawu's national conference on Wednesday – just two days after the local government elections.
For the first time since 1994, the ANC has fallen below the 50% mark nationally, while it has also bled support in most of the country’s metros.
Makhura says the low voter turnout is due to ANC supporters choosing not to vote.
“The majority of the people really didn’t participate in these elections. The majority of the people who would’ve voted for somebody else are not convinced that there is somebody else to vote for. So the ANC has to understand this message, that even the message of renewal is not yet convincing enough.
“All the interventions that we have been making so far in fixing the problem that includes dealing with the issue of corruption that’s not enough, also the deep socio-economic issues that people face people are not convinced that we are doing enough to turn around their misfortunes,” said Makhura.
But he told delegates that ANC supporters are still not voting for other parties.
“Of course, we are disappointed about the voter turnout and you can see that so far, this poses a great danger especially in our provinces, to municipalities that have been governed by the ANC including the metros.
“I think the one important thing we must say is that the ANC must receive the message of low voter turnout in a particular way, and this is how we must receive it. The people don’t have confidence in any other parties, but they are not yet convinced that their movement, the ANC, has done enough to address the fundamental issues that the call for renewal is about.”
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