Cash was for tithes – Mashatile

PROBLEMS with services are being raised frequently by communities during the ANC’S local election campaigning, with the party’s top six members offering assurances that delivery challenges would be addressed.

ANC treasurer Paul Mashatile said the party was vying to run all 38 wards in the Makhado municipality in Limpopo.

Currently, the official opposition DA runs one ward, while the ANC is in control of 37.

After a video of Mashatile handing out money to congregants in Makhado surfaced on Twitter, he cleared the air and said that there was no wrongdoing.

He said that at the time he attended a church service and during tithe offerings he handed money to his team to contribute as well.

According to Mashatile, the ANC’S election campaign was well-received.

“We are putting in all efforts to win the ward back. The biggest challenge the community faces is water. There is an interruption to the supply of water,” Mashatile said.

“Our motto is ‘Let’s build better communities together’, so we are saying to the people that we acknowledge the problem of water and we are going to work with them to address this.

“We know there is a challenge of unemployment in many of the areas, but as we roll out infrastructure … whether it is by building dams or schools, we will target the employment of local people,” Mashatile said.

Campaigning in Mankweng outside Polokwane, ANC deputy president David Mabuza said his party must shape up and deliver better service to communities. Issues which communities had raised with him included sanitation, water and flooding of homes when it rained.

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who was out and about in the Eastern Cape, said the ruling party must ensure that all South Africans gained access to quality healthcare to enjoy longer, healthier and more productive lives.

He emphasised that the party should also put in place stricter laws and institutions to root out corruption as it undermined government's ability to deliver quality services to the people.

Mantashe further called on ANC councillors to hold regular meetings with the community members they served to consult on council plans and programmes, because the ANC was a people’s movement.

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte campaigned in the Western Cape last week. Duarte called on the ANC Youth League to do their part and encourage young people to vote.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa will officially launch the governing party’s manifesto in Tshwane today.