Should supporters forgive and give the ANC another chance to govern?
As the local government elections draw near, the ANC is looking for love-back and forgiveness from its supporters.
The party has projected to lose a large share of the votes cast in November, with most predicting they will need to work with other parties in more municipalities and areas to form coalition governments.
Complicating issues are the party not yet announcing a mayoral candidate and one of those on the shortlist for the position, current mayor Dada Morero, having an argument with a community member in Tshepisong last week.
After the resident called the mayor a criminal, Morero repeatedly told him “you’re talking s***t”.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said Morero had apologised and he hopes he will be forgiven.
“Our mayor did make an utterance which we find completely unacceptable, but he has apologised. He has gone public and apologised. We, as the ANC, have taken him up on that. I do hope that our people will be able to accept the apology that he has given.”
He called it a mishap and said he hoped supporters would stick by the party.
“It has not been damage control. Our people here did not even raise the issue. So, we move ahead, and in any campaign there will always be mishaps. There’ll be missteps, and we are people, and we will always make mistakes. The important thing is whether we humble ourselves enough to be able to say we apologise.”
