JOHANNESBURG – South African President, Jacob Zuma, on Monday, predicted an overwhelming victory for his African National Congress (ANC) in Wednesday’s general elections.
This was coming on the heels of general forecast that the party would lose votes over corruption and enduring poverty, and critics saying ANC can no longer ride only on its credentials of having defeated apartheid.
Zuma said in Johannesburg during a meeting with journalists on wrapping up the party’s four-month electoral campaign that ANC has done well in the governance of South Africa.
The president promised that the ANC would accelerate the progress of delivery in its five priorities, which includes education, health, rural development, job creation and fighting crime.
Zuma dismissed accusations that corruption was undermining the ethics of the party, saying it was the only one to have taken measures against graft, including in its own ranks.
He however downplayed the Nkandla scandal, in which he was accused of spending about 20 million dollars in taxpayers’ money on upgrading his rural home.
The upgrades were only for security purposes, Zuma insisted, saying his home had previously burned down twice and that burglars had raped his wife.
Zuma also denied allegations that ANC had used state vehicles, funds and other resources for its electoral campaign, dismissing such cases as isolated incidents. (dpa/NAN)
