Cosatu congress told ANC under threat

05 August 2015 - 02:04 By Kingdom Mabuza

The ANC could face a stiff contest in next year's local government elections and lose power in some areas, delegates to the Cosatu Gauteng congress have been warned. A report by the Cosatu secretariat says that the ANC majority has been declining drastically in Gauteng's three biggest metros: Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane.The ANC's 2004 majority of more than 60% in the three metros was reduced to 50% last year.Unless the "working class begins to take its task of leading the national democratic revolution serious[ly]", the report warns, the "environment is pregnant with various possibilities"."Anyone who doubts the points we are raising must ask comrades in the City of Cape Town," the trade union federation's secretariat warns in the report.Support for the ANC dropped to 62% in the elections last year from 65% in 2009.The party lost about 10% of its support in Gauteng."We also did badly in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. We, therefore, need to discuss these results and such should form part of preparation for the 2016 local government elections, which would be much more difficult than the 2014 national elections."Factors that would make campaigning for the ANC difficult were the "own goal" of e-tolls, corruption and the press."The e-toll saga also was an own goal (against) our government and the ruling alliance which made life very difficult for the campaign."Corruption in the state and the role of the press "in creating the atmosphere of mistrust" created "very difficult conditions for the campaign in [ Gauteng] and in the country in general".The movement might "in certain instances blame the media as sensational but the truth . is that corruption is a cancer that is eating our movement and the alliance in general"...

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