"I gave it my best shot."
This is what President Cyril Ramaphosa said when asked how he thought he has done during his first term as ANC leader and the country's first citizen.
Ramaphosa, whose supporters are campaigning for his re-election for the second term at the ANC elective conference in December, returned to Tshiawelo in Soweto yesterday, where his branch gave him the nod for another term as it did five years ago.
Ramaphosa is being challenged for the top job in the ANC by former health minister Zweli Mkhize, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Lindiwe Sisulu and his deputy David Mabuza, who have been nominated by some branches.
He also heads to conference with the load-shedding crisis crippling the country and the Phala Phala farm scandal hanging over his head.
Speaking after attending a branch general meeting, which was held in Ward 11 at Hitekani Primary School,
Ramaphosa sought to downplay the nomination of preferred leaders as "democracy at work".
He appeared to pat himself on the back, describing his tenure as ANC and the country's leader as the most challenging. Ramaphosa said he faced the Covid-19 pandemic, which killed more than 100,000 South Africans, devastating floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape that left 459 dead, as well as an unemployment crisis.
Asked what he thought about his term, and if he thinks he led with courage, Ramaphosa said he did his best under the circumstances.
“Many people have their views, but this [term] has been a huge challenge. I know of no [other] president who has led during the type of pandemic we've had, who was hugely challenged as our people were dying, as unemployment was rising, the economy was going down, the [KZN July] unrest that had an impact on our economy and the type of floods that we've had," he said.
“So all these challenges have come one after another and they have been addressed, but of course people can judge whether that has been sufficient or not, but I have been very clear in saying having been elected I must address all these challenges that face our people and have done so to the very best of my ability.
“A number of people have often said you got into office at the wrong time. You got into office to even address state capture and yes, that has been my lot as a president, but I have given it the best shot and will continue to do so in service of the people of South Africa.”
Mkhize was endorsed by the provincial executive committee in KZN, which will take the biggest delegation to conference. However, Ramaphosa has received endorsements from Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and North West, which makes him the front-runner.
Ramaphosa's visit comes a year after angry residents from Tshiawelo protested outside his sister Ivy Ramaphosa's house in September 2021.
Residents were angry over the constant power blackouts in the community. A year later, little appeared to have changed.
Two residents, who are members of the ANC, complained that they have gone for months without electricity but noted plans were afoot to address their plight.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said she’d been without electricity for four months.
“Lack of electricity has been going on for years. I’m one of the residents affected by not having electricity, I’ve not had it for four months. We complained and were told they were in the process of buying a new transformer for the community. We were told we’re number 53 on the list of communities that need transformers. It was meant to be installed on Friday but nothing’s happened yet,” the woman said.
Fatima Hlongeni, 72, said for the past four months, electricity was gone between 11am-5pm every day.
Hlongeni said as a woman who looked after many orphaned children, not having electricity was not ideal.
“We’ve got a lot of service delivery issues in our ward. From blocked drains to not having electricity from 11am-5pm, it’s a problem. When it comes back, it damages so many things like my geyser. When that happened, I had to go around the community asking for money to help fix the geyser,” she said.
Ramaphosa said the problems faced by Tshiawelo residents were not unique to the area.
“This place is facing the same challenges that many other places in the country are facing. I’m very much in touch with what’s happening here," he said.
“One of the problems we have here for instances [is that] there are electricity blow-ups where the transformers [are] either stolen or it blows up because of electricity theft and illegal connections, and we have addressed that.
“The other service delivery challenges are no different to the ones that our metro is dealing with. Fortunately now, we have an ANC mayor who's going to lead the process of rejuvenation of this metro, and service delivery will improve.”
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