Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa says Soweto residents have a right to protest over electricity cuts.
The president noted that his government was working around the clock to ensure the restoration of power in the sprawling township.
“We want to correct what has gone wrong in the past, we are working around the clock to address these issues,” he said.
“Joburg mayor [Mpho] Moerane has shared with me challenges our people face, and he outlined three components for us to work on which includes: the needs, challenges and the instant action,” he added.
Ramaphosa had just cast his three ballots at Hitekani Primary School, accompanied by Gauteng Premier David Makhura and Moerane.
At the start of the campaign season, Ramaphosa was greeted by a hostile reception at Nomzamo Informal Settlement, where residents expressed their anger over power cuts.
Since then, electricity and water became major issues during the buildup to the polls today.
“I met with numerous people with great enthusiasm this morning who went to vote, our democracy is becoming more entrenched, and what is fascinating is that our youth are coming in numbers to vote,” says Ramaphosa.
The president had to also contend with Eskom’s load-shedding after the power utility announced that it would introduce stage 4 of load shedding in the run-up to the polls. The state-owned enterprise had to do an about-turn on its decision, following a backlash from the ANC.
The party’s head of campaigns, Fikile Mbalula, has since charged that the load shedding announcement was set to cost the party at the polls, especially in Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa said that the ANC lost ground due to self-inflicted blunders in their previous municipal elections in 2016.
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