'We are in pole position here': Ramaphosa confident of winning back Metsimaholo in the Free State

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday said he was confident that come November 1, the ANC is going to regain power in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the Free State.

“We are going to win and regain control of Metsimaholo on the basis of the renewal process in the ANC. I think we are well positioned. In fact, we are in pole position here in Metsimaholo,” said Ramaphosa.  

The municipality, which is an administrative area in the Fezile Dabi District of the Free State, is one of the municipalities that is expected to be highly contested in the upcoming local government elections. 

Based in Sasolburg, the municipality is currently run by the ANC after the party clawed its way back into power when the municipality was dissolved for failing to pass a budget. But it had lost control of the municipality during the 2016 local government elections. 

On Friday, Ramaphosa said he wanted to change this.

“We have admitted that there have been problems and challenges in Metsimaholo and with a renewed ANC and with an ANC that is rebuilt and an ANC focused on unity, we are already succeeding in uniting ourselves for our campaign here in Msetsimaholo.

“The SA Communist Party and the ANC have a unified approach and unified candidate list, so there are no issues amongst us. It is on the basis of that unity that we are going out to the community and the good thing is that the community is the one that chose the candidate.”

Ramaphosa said this was part of the renewal process that the party was undergoing.

He added that the SACP is an ally of the ruling party. “This time around we are working extremely well, we are focusing on the election, we have a unified platform and the SACP has subscribed and embraced the ANC manifesto.

“They are a true ally and we are working together and there are no divisions and no issues amongst us. We are going to have a unified approach on service delivery issues as well because both of us want exactly the same thing.”

Ramaphosa said he was pleased to have the support of the local community who “are standing behind the ANC and the corrective measures that the ANC is going to take to reposition Metsimaholo and to win it back to the ANC”.

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