ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has reiterated former speaker of Parliament and deputy president's statement Baleka Mbete that 30 years in power and governance is not enough to deliver adequate services and a "better life" for South Africans, adding that South Africans should give them “time” to fix mistakes.
On Wednesday, during the ANC's campaign trail, Mbete urged voters to give the ANC more time than what they had to fix and deliver on their long-lasting promises.
This varies from clean drinking water, electricity, safety and security, jobs, roads, proper healthcare services and infrastructure.
Upon taking power in 1994, the ANC promised South Africans a better life post-apartheid era.
Mantashe campaigned for the ruling party on Thursday in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, where he asked the residents of Tokyo informal settlements to give the ANC more time to work on their mistakes.
He admitted that the ANC made mistakes in the past, but they were willing to clean up and serve the people.
"We plead to you to give us a chance to continue to govern this country after it was colonised for years. We are only in power for 30 years and people blame us and say we had enough time.
"Of course, 30 years is enough if you don't know the years that the country spent under colonisation," he said.
Mantashe said through those years, people did not do anything for themselves, including farming; it was only in the interest of the apartheid regime.
"The regime destroyed the relationship between a black person and the land," he stated that under the ANC people will know that food does come from the land and they farm for their benefit and also for business purposes.
He said they were in the process of ensuring that citizens received what they were promised. "Vote for the ANC on May 29 please," he said.
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