The ANC wants to renew its social compact with communities before the 2024 elections — so it is revitalising a volunteer campaign that Thabo Mbeki launched 20 years ago.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will get his hands dirty this weekend in Bloemfontein, leading a cleanup drive at a primary school in Turflaagte, before helping to fix potholes in the city where the ANC was founded 110 years ago. He expects party members and community volunteers to do the same and to keep it up until the 2024 elections.
“In the ANC, we believe that our people can be able to advance their own democratic gains when they too play an active role in building the society they want,” said Mabe. “Now the Letsema campaign provides that kind of space for everyone who calls themselves volunteers of the African National Congress.”
“These were organised into a series of monthly themes, covering areas like education, healthcare, community safety, human rights, women’s emancipation, etc,” said Motlanthe. But beyond the photo ops of Ramaphosa picking up trash, the Letsema campaign will face obvious challenges that could undermine its ability to help reverse the ANC’s steady electoral decline.
Then there’s the issue of the ANC’s own members. In speeches recently, former president Mbeki has focused on the quality of the party’s members, a common theme in its reports after membership numbers exploded.
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