Mbalula says the ANC has a proven track record in service delivery.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the ANC has a track record of service delivery and that voters should therefore support the party.
He was speaking in the Sekhukhune region of Limpopo on Wednesday, where he addressed ANC supporters.
“When the ANC came into power, our people did not have houses, there was no electricity, and there were no roads here in the rural areas. In Limpopo, those things were not there when the ANC came into power, and most of our people languished in poverty.
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View Map“The black elderly people were getting pensions, but it was not the same amount as white people. Before 1994, the elderly were dying on long queues to get their pension. Some after standing on long queues would be told that their names are not registered for pension; but the ANC has changed all those things.
“The ANC has brought electricity to the rural areas; of course, what we have come across lately is what we call load shedding, but there was no electricity; it was expanded to the rural areas, and thirdly, houses which we continue to build and we are going to build on and on,” he said.
Mbalula said that before the ANC took the seat of government in 1994, there were water challenges in most parts of the country. “What we are resolving is an ageing infrastructure. Water was a big problem; it is still a big challenge even now that is actually being addressed,” he said.
‘You gave us this vote’
Mbalula told ANC supporters not to believe those who claim that the ANC has not made life better for South Africans.
“The experience is with the ANC again; all that we are saying is that, South Africans, this is what we did to the vote that you gave to us. You gave us this vote with love, you gave it to Mandela, you gave it to Mbeki, you gave it to Zuma, and now it is Ramaphosa – we will continue changing the lives of our people,” he said.
Mbalula said people who claim the ANC has not achieved much “have never lived under apartheid” or experienced what that system did to black people.
“This ANC is the property of the people of South Africa,” he said.
Mbalula told supporters that the ANC was formed with the help of local kings and queens, including the Bapedi kingdom. He said this was another reason people in Sekhukhune continue to support the party.
“The ANC was formed to free our people and to look after them,” he said.
Earlier in September, Mbalula said the ANC was a large organisation with deep roots in God, the ancestors, traditional leaders and the church, arguing that attempts to destroy it would ultimately fail because of its historical foundations.
