South Africa’s ruling African National Congress president Cyril Ramaphosa and the party’s supporters took to the streets of Johannesburg on Sunday to celebrate their victory in the just-ended national elections.
The governing party, which has been in power since the first democratic elections in 1994, garnered 57.51% at the polls.
“They thought that the ANC was going to lose power. We showed them that the ANC is a victorious organisation of our people,” Ramaphosa said.
He, however, admitted that the campaign for the 2019 polls was the “most difficult.”
He is expected to be elected as state president in the National Assembly in the coming days.
“They thought the ANC would get under 50% [of votes]. They expected that. They were betting on that, praying for that. They were dreaming about it. They were wishing for it, and others went to see sangomas (witchdoctors) about it,” he said.
Admitting that Gauteng Province was the party’s biggest challenge, having garnered only 50.19%, he added: “Whether they like it or not, we have won.”
“They thought we had lost Gauteng but we knew it would come through. It doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you get there,” he told thousands who had gathered outside the headquarters.
NM/jn/APA