Roundup: S. Africa's ANC launches local election manifesto, vows to create more jobs

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) launched its manifesto for local government elections on Saturday, pledging to create more jobs and fight corruption.

The manifesto was launched at a mass rally in Port Elizabeth, with the attendance of about 100,000 ANC supporters, as the party estimated.

The ANC will work hard to turn municipalities into employment hubs for young people, the manifesto says.

South Africa has been haunted by a high unemployment rate of more than 25 percent, with unemployment rate among the youth standing at about 45 percent.

The manifesto says the ANC will be expanding its Community Work Program to extend work opportunities to the youth.

The party will ensure that all municipalities develop special programs targeting youth cooperatives and enterprises in the next five years, according to the manifesto.

The ANC will also be supporting local and small businesses by tweaking procurement processes, it says.

The party wants to promote local procurement of goods and services, support small and medium businesses with the creation of a centralized government procurement system.

The manifesto also vows to crack down on corruption among ANC officials.

Addressing the crowd, President Jacob Zuma said the ANC will fight corruption by holding corrupt municipal officials and councillors liable for losses incurred by municipalities as a result of their graft.

Corrupt municipal officials are blamed for rampant protests over poor service delivery across the country. An estimated 5,000 protests have taken place since 2011.

"The ANC will ensure the implementation of recommendations emanating from forensic investigations conducted in municipalities," said the president.

The ANC will act against companies involved in bid rigging, price fixing and corruption regarding procurement, Zuma added.

The rally was seen as strong affirmation of the ANC's extensive mobilization campaign ahead of the elections, scheduled for August 3 this year.

Municipal elections are held every five years. Voters will elect the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils, who, in turn, will elect the mayors of the municipalities to office.

The elections come as the government under Zuma is facing a series of challenges, including the Nkandla scandal in which Zuma is accused of abusing public funds in security upgrades at his private home, and the "state capture" by the Indian Gupta family, which allegedly keeps close ties with Zuma and the ANC.

The local government elections will see political parties fighting for control of the country's metropolitans. Opposition political parties, particularly, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), have vowed to take over Johannesburg, Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality from the ANC.

Both the ANC and DA have launched campaigns to urge voters to vote, with both saying that their leaders would be conducting door-to-door visits to seek support. Enditem