‘We are in this game to win’: Ramaphosa confident ANC can grow support in Western Cape

The ANC Is trying to make inroads in Cape Town, where it has struggled to win voters for years. As South Africans prepare to vote in the local government elections in less than three weeks, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is confident the party can grow its support in the Western Cape and win the province back in the upcoming local government elections, saying “our intention is to win.” Campaigning in Cape Town on Saturday, Ramaphosa declared the ANC was “in this game to win” as he sought to convince voters the party could improve service delivery and bring meaningful change to their communities. Western Cape The ANC president is on a two-day campaign trail in the province as the party attempts to strengthen its electoral standing in one of its toughest political battlegrounds. LIVE interactive map, latest news, multimedia and more! View Map Ramaphosa said the ANC was intensifying its election drive, particularly in Cape Town, where he plans to engage residents directly and hear their concerns. “Obviously we are heightening our campaign here in the Western Cape, and particularly in Cape Town,” Ramaphosa said. “I intend to spend the day meeting our people, hearing their concerns and issues.” Message to voters The ANC leader said his message to voters would be straightforward: a stronger ANC presence in local government would enable the party to address pressing challenges facing residents and improve service delivery. “We will be urging them to vote for the ANC because the ANC can bring about changes to the lives of our people,” he said. “It’s when the ANC is able to win the opportunity and the power to govern that we will be able to fully bring about changes in the lives of our people and deliver better services.” Confidence Ramaphosa projected confidence despite the ANC’s previous decline in support during local government elections, arguing that many supporters simply stayed away from the polls. “We are insisting now that people should come out to vote in large numbers,” he said. “We will have more and more people who will vote for the ANC, and we will see our numbers going up. In fact, our intention is to win. We are in this game to win, and therefore I’m confident that we will come out successful this time round.” ConCourt ruling The president also said a recent Constitutional Court judgment energised ANC structures and volunteers across the country. The Constitutional Court last week ruled that the ANC can appear on the ballot in the six municipalities where its candidate list submission was disputed. The ruling saves the ANC from failing to put forward 181 ward and proportional representation candidates in the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). “The Constitutional Court ruling outcome was a great positive for the ANC, and it has really galvanised the energy of ANC volunteers, leaders and members throughout the country,” he said. Crime On crime, one of the major concerns raised by communities, Ramaphosa defended the deployment of soldiers to support police in crime hotspots, saying government was responding directly to public demands for stronger intervention. “People were saying, ‘Please bring in the soldiers’,” he said. “We responded to that because we are a listening government.” However, he stressed that the military’s role remains supportive. “The soldiers will never supplant the role of the police. The police are the constitutionally mandated authority to deal with crime.” Ramaphosa acknowledged that crime remains a “major, major problem” and said government was working to root out corruption within the police service while strengthening specialised anti-gang and crime-fighting units. Fikile Mbalula Addressing questions about ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula’s health, Ramaphosa said he was recovering well after a recent health scare. Mbalula became visibly unwell and collapsed after delivering an emotional address regarding the Constitutional Court’s ruling to reinstate 181 ANC candidates for the upcoming local government elections “He is getting better. He was under a lot of stress, we must say. He was carrying a heavy burden,” Ramaphosa said. Migrants The president also sought to reassure South Africans that government was managing concerns around undocumented migrants and related protests. Anti-illegal immigrant protests erupted across several provinces in South Africa and escalated to the point of requiring police intervention, after demonstrators began openly threatening the safety of foreign nationals and their property. One of the organisations at the forefront, March and March, has set a hard deadline of 30 June for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country. “Government is on top of the matter,” Ramaphosa said. Youth voters In a direct appeal to younger voters, Ramaphosa welcomed increased youth voter registration and urged them to participate in the election. “We are very pleased to have seen that a number of them are registered, and we are hoping that they will now go and vote,” he said. “The numbers of those who register have gone up, and we now want to see them coming out in their numbers to vote.” Ramaphosa said the ANC would continue engaging communities in the Western Cape as it seeks to increase support ahead of the local government elections.