Is ANC still relevant?

In townships and rural areas, young people are still languishing under the weight of unemployment and poverty. The hopeless youths know by now that, the promise to create jobs and eradicate poverty is nothing more than a slogan, designed to garner votes.

Many of these young people have succumbed to the opiate pull of drugs and alcohol to fill the gap left by political promises. As they continue to toss and turn in the grueling life of poverty, the youth see leaders in their local municipalities floating in conspicuous wealth, living in mansions and driving fancy cars. People were shocked to learn that Zuma’s cattle sleep in a kraal worth more than 1 million. The jaws dropped further on discovering that Zuma floats in a swimming pool that cost more than 1 million to build – forget the lie that the pool is meant to distinguish fires.

Prince Mashele wrote, I quote, “Zuma is the epitome of monumental corruption that has been going on in government.”

 

Meanwhile, the ANC’s 2014 manifesto was received with much criticism from other political parties with Agang saying that their manifesto was a predictable laundry list of promises.

The ANC’s manifesto was launched in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga last week with Zuma saying the party would continue to focus on job creation, rural development and land reform, food security, education, health and figh crime and corruption. 

Zuma also said that the party aims to create 6 million jobs over the next five years and provide a million housing opportunities.

Eusebius McKaiser, PowerFM Presenter and The star newspaper columnist wrote: "The ANC has the public to help it get two thirds majority so that it can make changes to the constitution that will supposedly improve our lives. He asked; what does the constitution have to do with poor governance, with corruption, with textbooks not being delivered, with Nkandlagate, with the abuse of BEE, with the collapsed public health service in the Eastern Cape, with slow land reform, and with mud schools?  Is the constitution the reason we have high unemployment, deep inequality and immoral levels of poverty, McKaiser further asked?

Opposition parties should simply tell voters to put the government, and not the constitution, on trials in the elections.