Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that the ruling party uses food parcels to secure votes in government elections.
The ruling party does not need to use food parcels to buy people’s votes, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said in parliament on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa was responding to questions about the party’s poverty-relief efforts which take place during election periods, according to Business Day. He said that only people who qualified for Sassa poverty relief are eligible to receive parcels during elections and these initiatives should not be confused with dodgy electioneering practices.
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| Ramaphosa denies that the ANC uses food parcels for votes |
Madonsela said there was no effort to distinguish between a government-led initiative by Free State Premier Ace Magashule to accelerate service delivery in the province, and another privately funded initiative. The former was called Operation Hlasela, and the latter was called the Hlasela Fund.
IOL reports that Madonsela found that while there was no evidence that state funds were used for the private Hlasela initiative, which also distributed parcels, there was evidence to show that state resources such as communication were used, and there was no distinction between the initiatives which showed support of the ANC manifesto. This may have worked to change the perception of voters in favour of the ruling party.
Ramaphosa promised that the government was committed to ensuring free and fair elections by abiding by the election code ahead of the vote in August
Additional reporting: Business Day, IOL
