The ruling party launches manifesto forums

Communities around Steve Tshwete and Mkhondo municipalities had an opportunity to make their views known to the African National Congress during its consultative Masikhulume Manifesto Forums over the past weekend.

Whilst many people have appreciated the good work done by the ruling party, its national deployees also utilised the opportunity to communicate the achievements since the dawn of democracy.

Both manifesto forums were attended by various stakeholders ranging from the business sector, traditional leaders and healers, labour movements, home-based care providers, community police forums and organisations representing people living with disability.

During the forum, people emphasised that they would continue voting for the ANC regardless of the challenges it had in running government because there were many achievements which were visible enough.

People appreciated amongst others that there were many clinics and schools in their areas. They appreciated government’s efforts of providing anti-retroviral virus free of charge and that government support grants contributed to a better life.

They, however, complained about the lack of water in some areas and that he ANC did not come back to give them feedback on the matters they were handling on behalf of the people. They said life was much better under the ANC government, but the organisation should consider monitoring the administration of the municipalities and hospitals.

They said municipal officers did not attend to them, councillors did not hold meetings with them and that when they were frustrated they opted to go on the streets. They further complained about the services they were getting from the hospitals.

People said the attitude of the nurses was unacceptable, as they would tell patients that they were on lunch instead of giving them much-desired care. They called on the ANC government to ensure that there were many doctors and nurses at the hospitals to provide the necessary medical care.

An ANC national executive committee member deployed to Mpumalanga, Mr Siyabonga Cwele told the masses during a manifesto forum held in Middelburg that the ANC-led government has replaced the divided apartheid education system by one education system.

“We have doubled the number of students who attend university and graduate, three quarters are now African. The matric pass rate is up from 57 percent in 1994 and 75 percent in 2012. Seven million children get fed at school daily and over 60 percent of all state schools now charge no fee.

“Education remains a big challenge even though we spend about 20 percent of government budget on it. There are still differences in the quality of education people get. Many schools still lack things like electricity, running water, libraries and laboratories,” said Cwele.

He added that South Africans lived with a legacy of schools and teachers in rural areas that produced a majority of children who only graduated from primary schools. He explained that less than half of the learners matriculated.

Speaking about housing, Cwele explained that the ANC government had worked hard to make decent homes available to the millions who had previously been neglected. The ANC government has subsidised and built more than 3.3million houses.

“We have built about 600 houses every working day. Almost a quarter of our people live in state subsidised housing. As millions continue moving from rural areas to towns and cities, the need increases, therefore for the ANC, decent housing remains priority,” he said.

Another NEC deployee, Ms Dipuo Letsatsi told various stakeholders at a manifesto forum in Mkhondo that the ANC was consulting and seeking advice from the communities on what it should improve in running government.

She added that the ANC had together with South Africans made South Africa a better place to live in than it was in 1994.