African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on party members and volunteers to push for a high voter turnout for the organisation. Ramaphosa says successive elections have shown that ANC voters stay away, assuming the party has already won. He was addressing the ANC’s final Siyanqoba Rally at the Sisa Dukashe stadium in Mdantsane, in the Eastern Cape. South Africans will start with special votes on Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday being the big day for the local government elections. Ramaphosa has commanded his party troops to work until the last minute to secure votes. He also urged ANC volunteers, to not take it for granted that people will go out and vote, but to be actively involved in getting ten people per volunteer. “The strength of the ANC is that we have been able to cover all of South Africa, city to city, metro to metro and listen to our people. We have that strength to listen to the whole of South Africa.” The ANC President says the party’s councillors must make sure to drive economic growth in their areas. He says all ANC councillors will be required to report to their communities on their first 100 days in office. “We want our municipalities and villages to be the centres of investments, and we must be able to do this. The ANC doesn’t want a repeat of a low voter turnout. Party volunteers have been instructed to work until the 11th-hour, getting voters to the polls. People in 2024 stayed at home and didn’t go to vote because they thought the ANC had already won, we must work until the last minute.” Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson Oscar Mabuyane says the party is under attack in the province. Mabuyane has vowed that the province will not end up like KwaZulu-Natal, that he described as limping politically. “We will defend the ANC comrade president. The party is faced with challenges, but we will not allow to be made KZN. We will defend this metro.”