By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa says the gathering of political parties that want to unseat the ruling party, they see it as a sideshow .
Ramaphosa was speaking during a doorstep media briefing at the Turffontein race course in Johannesburg on Saturday, where the ANC kicked off its National Working Committee meeting.
The president said, “they are entitled to hold conferences, they will never be able to amass the support the ANC has.”
“There’s no organisation in this country that has as much reach as they has, and that is why they are confident that they are working towards a victory.”
Various opposition parties met over two days in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni to pen a MultiParty Charter for South Africa (MPCSA) ahead of the crucial 2024 national elections.
Parties absent from the two-day MPCSA meeting included the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Patriotic Alliance (PA).
During their meetings, the coalition members outlined a set of policy agreements that demonstrate a shared vision for governance. This cooperative approach marks a departure from traditional party divisions and highlighted the importance of working together for common goals.
The charter said it committed to adopting its name to reflect its intent to move beyond partisan labels and work collaboratively, regardless of individual party affiliations.
Gauteng provincial leader Panyaza Lesufi described the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa as a gang of losers.
He said the alliance is a tacit admission by the respective parties that they cannot win an election by themselves.
Lesufi said the coalition is not sustainable.
“They have got diverse policy differences, they don’t believe literally in everything and you have to take coalition governments in local governments. South Africans should be really scared if they see something of that nature and there are many political parties that were with them before and they are no longer with them, why?”
The ANC said it is not engaging in any coalition talks at the moment as it is confident of winning an outright majority in next year’s election.
The NWC is meeting for a three-day conference where it will be discussing issues of governance, service delivery, and policy implementation in Gauteng.
Ramaphosa said, there are a number of issues in local government that have been identified as requiring national intervention.
“A good example is Rooiwal water works which was left to the Tshwane municipality for years and nothing happened and I had to go there and say national is now going to intervene which is precisely what we are doing the same throughout the country as well where we are finding lapses in local service delivery.”
Meanwhile Ramaphosa, Cape Town Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and Popo Molefe are noted as the main speakers at the United Democratic Front (UDF) 40th anniversary on Sunday.
The UDF aimed to mobilise people and organisations on a national level, throughout the country, against apartheid injustice. It called for the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, and democratic South Africa.
The programme for Sunday’s event is expected to start at 1pm and end at 5pm.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of MYANC.