East London - The African National Congress in the Eastern Cape celebrated the election results outcome in East London on Friday night.
Hundreds of ANC supporters from the Buffalo City Metro were ferried in minibus taxis to Ebuhlanti on the beachfront to share a toast with the party's provincial leadership. They arrived singing ANC songs and dancing. Bottles of champagne were distributed to supporters and ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi led the toast celebrations.
Addressing the crowd, ANC provincial chairman Oscar Mabuyane said the actual celebrations would still take place.
"We are just welcoming election results which have given us a decisive mandate to form the sixth administration. We need to thank you for these results, you are the party pillars, it is through your hard work that we retain the power," said Mabuyane.
The ANC had "no time to waste", as a huge task lay ahead. "Our people are poor, young people need jobs, and we are going to be pre-occupied with that. For the next five years we are going to turn around [the] economic fortunes of this province. We are going to assist SMMEs to create jobs for our people."
ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi shares champagne with supporters. Picture: ANA
The next general election campaign in 2024 would be "made easy by what is going to be achieved in the five years". The ANC took 68.74 percent of the vote.