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South Africa's ruling ANC warns employers against barring employees from voting

Xinhua, July 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday warned employers against barring employees from voting in the August 3 local government elections.

The ANC urges employers to make arrangements to enable workers to vote on August 3, ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.

"While we note that some businesses will continue to regard this day as a trading day, the ANC appeals to employers to consider the needs of workers who are registered to vote in their respective voting districts, which may be a distance from their place of work.

"We call on these employers to plan in advance to enable workers to visit polling stations and cast their ballots,"said Kodwa.

In considering their options, employers are urged to also consider the real challenges of availability of public transport on a public holiday, as well as the voting hours - which are from 07:00 to 19:00, he said.

"A failure to do this, in reality, amounts to disenfranchisement from active citizenry and undermines our collective commitment to credible, free, fair and peaceful elections," Kodwa noted.

The ANC once again encourages all South Africans to come out in their numbers to cast their votes on the election day, he said.

"We must continue to give effect to our demand encapsulated in the Freedom Charter that 'The People Shall Govern,'" Kodwa said.

"We have achieved much together and our challenges can be overcome by standing together. The ability to further improve the lives of all our people lies in your hands," he added.

The ANC said earlier that it is confident of winning a decisive victory in the local government elections.

The party said it will win all municipalities that it currently governs as well as winning new municipalities where the opposition parties control.

The elections come as the government under the ANC is facing a series of challenges, including the Nkandla scandal in which President Jacob 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 ANC is facing the most fierce competition from the opposition parties since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have vowed to take over major municipalities like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Bay municipality from the ANC. Endit