As South Africa prepares for its elections on May 29, an independent candidate is advocating for significant political reform in the country.
“There is literally no South African who needs to be convinced why we need to change. There isn’t, not one,” Anele Mda told the Associated Press on Thursday.
Mda was unequivocal in her remarks about what South African voters would be endorsing when electing candidates to parliament in the upcoming election.
“A person who’s voting the ANC (ruling African National Congress party), it’s a person who is an accomplice, who has taken a stand of declaring themselves an accomplice to the rot that is happening,” she stated.
Mda referred to the allegations against ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was accused of concealing up to $4 million at his farm before it was stolen in 2020.
Although Ramaphosa was cleared of wrongdoing last year by a public watchdog over the scandal, Mda criticized the outcome, calling it a “travesty of justice”.
“And they still have an opportunity to put him with his big face on and on posters and beg people to vote for such a corrupt, incorrigible man,” Mda said.
Despite South Africa being regarded as one of Africa’s most advanced countries, stark contradictions persist.
Unemployment and poverty remain the most pressing issues for the majority of its citizens.
The African National Congress, once led by Nelson Mandela, has maintained power since the end of apartheid in 1994. However, poverty, failing government services, and a national unemployment rate exceeding 32%—disproportionately affecting the country’s Black majority—have eroded the ruling party’s support.
Recent polls indicate that support for the ANC is below 50%, with some surveys showing figures as low as 40%, suggesting the party might lose its parliamentary majority for the first time when the country votes on Wednesday.
A record seventy political parties are registered for the election, and for the first time, independent candidates will be allowed to stand.
