Election campaigning kicks into high gear
Election campaigning is set to continue in the days ahead with just five weeks to go before the electorate casts its ballot for new municipal councils.
On Monday, the ANC will be the last of the three biggest political parties to present its manifesto to the public after the EFF on Sunday and the DA on Saturday. All three parties have indicated they will be contesting all 4,468 wards across SA.
The governing party’s manifesto launch will be held in Tshwane, where the DA has been leading a fragile coalition of opposition parties since 2016 after the ANC suffered a huge defeat, falling short of gaining an outright majority. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the manifesto launch, with the party allowing 500 in attendance, in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions.
The ANC’s manifesto launch comes in the wake of its meeting the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC’s) extended September 21 deadline to nominate all candidates to contest the elections. On Wednesday, the IEC is expected to publish the final list of political parties and candidates.
The IFP will launch its campaign manifesto on Thursday with party president Velenkosini Hlabisa saying last week that the party is setting its sights on retaining the Nkandla municipality, which is the stamping ground of former president Jacob Zuma. Before Zuma’s accession to power in 2009, the Nkandla municipality was seen as an IFP stronghold but the party has experienced waning support in wards in the area due to Zuma’s continued support base.
On Tuesday, the Solidarity Fund, which was established in 2020 to raise money to help the government tackle the coronavirus crisis, will release its annual financial results and give updates on projects.
The fund has received pledges of R3.22bn since its establishment, of which R2.76bn has been allocated to health, humanitarian relief and behavioural change interventions. The fund’s biggest expenditure has been on the acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines and establishment of a R450m support programme for distressed small, medium and micro enterprises affected by the July riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
On Friday, former social development minister and ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini’s perjury case will be back in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court, where she is expected to be formally charged.
The charges against Dlamini came after the Constitutional Court recommended that she be investigated and possibly prosecuted for perjury in 2018 for allegedly giving false evidence under oath during the inquiry that was instituted by the court relating to her role in the social grant payment crisis.