“We refuse to get into the stadium without our food and money, which were provided to us by our ward leaders.”
These are the words of Veronica Mahlobo, one of the coordinators of Ward 7 in Bojanala, Rustenburg, who were left stranded ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s January 8 Statement on Saturday.
“As you can see, there are four buses and more than 200 of us from Phetleng Municipality, who have not received what was promised. We left home early to be here, and yet we have not eaten anything.”
Mahlobo was in the company of more than 20 fellow Phetleng residents, who had come to celebrate the ANC’s 114th anniversary at the Moruleng Stadium, where thousands of ANC supporters were bused in from all parts of the country.
While scores of buses made their way to the stadium, with their food parcels in the form of chicken wings, Mahlobo and her team were left stranded, with some of the residents having not taken their medication at the time of Ramaphosa’s address.
The issue of neglect was echoed by Gogo Miriam Mofokeng, a pensioner who articulated her distress regarding her blood pressure medication, stating: “I have not eaten anything, and we were not even given water to drink. How are we supposed to take our pills on an empty stomach?”
The promised provisions — food from Chicken Licken, ANC T-shirts, cold drinks, and R200 payments — had not reached them, leaving the group anxious and bewildered as they waited for their ward leaders.
Another resident lamented: “Each person is supposed to get R200. We came with four buses. Now we are left stranded, and we do not know how to get hold of them.”
A concerned resident said: “Here we have grandmothers who need to take medication, but they can’t do that without having eaten.”
Another resident added: “What is going to happen if one of them faints here? It will be a disaster.”
Anna Malebana from Free State, who left her province at 3am, said the ANC is the only party she knows and loves.
“We are here to celebrate with our President Cyril Ramaphosa, as the party celebrates its 114th year. I just wanted to be here in person to celebrate with the party that I love,” she said.
Rebecca Rapoho commended the efforts made by the ANC since the dawn of democracy, saying that even though there are challenges, the party has done well to transform the lives of its people.
“We love the ANC. I am going to continue voting for the ANC. I know that there are challenges that are not the party’s fault. We just want the party to help create jobs for our children, as they are currently unemployed,” she said.
Monnakato, North West, resident Jimmy Danko urged the government to prioritise service delivery in the area, saying even though the ANC has done well to bring change, the issue of water, roads, and other infrastructure deserves attention.
“We want the ANC to now prioritise the creation of jobs for our children. I believe the party has done well in the past 30 years, but there are no jobs for our children,” he said.
