Cape Town - After her attendance at the G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend addressing pressing global challenges, International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor joined local residents of Rondebosch, Kenilworth and Claremont to cast her vote at Claremont Primary School in Ward 58 on Monday.
While waiting in the voting line, Pandor said the G20 meeting in Rome went well and although there was agreement on most of the issues, there were some that proved to be contentious, but eventually they arrived at a declaration that all the leaders supported.
Pandor said they all worked hard and hoped there would be a positive outcome for her party.
“We’ve got a young candidate (ANC Ward candidate councillor in Ward 58, Busisiwe Nxumalo). I've been really happy with the number of young men and women put forward by the ANC. They’re good candidates and I hope the ANC will be given a chance to show what it can do,” said Pandor.
Commenting on her party’s reputation of corruption and how it would affect their voting numbers, Pandor said: “There are individuals within the ANC who have been corrupt, it’s not the organisation. We have many members and the issue is being addressed.
“We have set up appropriate bodies to follow through, people are being arrested, they are appearing in court, so the right action is being taken and must continue to do so,” said Pandor.
ANC provincial spokesperson for education, Khalid Sayed, came out to ensure everything went smoothly for the minister, and to tell South Africans, despite the rain and despair, that voting was important and a civic responsibility.
“Our hope and our wish is that after today the quality of ethical servant leadership that emerges to lead local government is better than that of 2016. We need ethical leadership, and regardless of the political parties it’s important that ethical leadership emerges,” he said.
Pandor later joined ANC MP Faiez Jacobs and their provincial team to visit voting stations across the metro to encourage people to vote after voter turnout in the party’s traditional stronghold seemed very low.
A Claremont resident, who did not want to be named, said change was needed in Cape Town and that she would be voting differently this year.
“I hope we see some meaningful change in terms of looking after vulnerable communities in Cape Town – which I feel a lot more could be done in,” said the resident.