In the opinion pages today, Carol Paton investigates two new recent polls showing the ANC dipping well below 50% at the 2024 national elections and Times LIVE pens an editorial on the sexual harassment allegations levelled against finance minister Enoch Godongwana.
Carol Paton | Shock opinion polls need pinch of salt, but ANC looks set to sink below 50% – fin24 (for subscribers)
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” The popular misquote is often attributed to humourist Mark Twain but it could just as easily be used for the ANC’s outlook at the 2024 general elections.
Recently, two new polls were released showing the governing party had dipped well below the 50% mark with one poll published by Rapport newspaper, and believed to be internal polling from either the ANC or the DA, had the ANC at a shocking 38% of the vote.
But Carol Paton writes that these new polls need to be interpreted with a pinch of salt as she details where the polls come from, who conducted them, and if they paint an accurate picture of the 2024 election outcome.
While it looks near certain that the ANC will drop below the 50% mark, the decline may not be as dramatic as is being reported. Read more here.
EDITORIAL | Lady Justice, give SA the happy ending it deserves – Times LIVE (for subscribers)
Times LIVE interrogates the most recent scandal to hit a senior government official after a case of sexual harassment was opened against finance minister Enoch Godongwana after he allegedly asked for a “happy ending” while receiving a massage in his room during a trip to the Kruger National Park.
The publication writes that the timing of the incident should be brought into question given that Godongwana is a senior lieutenant in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet and a strong ally of the president’s at a time when Ramaphosa is fighting his own scandal in the form of the Phala Phala farm robbery and trying to win re-election as ANC president.
But the editorial goes on to state that both alleged crimes carry equal weight and importance and should be investigated thoroughly and swiftly by police so that South Africa can get the justice it deserves. Read more here.
Here’s what else we’re reading today:
Bain SA is poison to Bain Global, it’s time to shut this little shop of horrors – Daily Maverick
NICOLE FRITZ: Deeply cynical Bain’s damage control does little to fix the harm done in SA – Business Day (for subscribers)
Government has acted like a spoiled brat and destroyed SA – The Citizen (for subscribers)
ConCourt ruling on foreign law graduates opens legal can of worms, but there is international precedent – Daily Maverick
TOM EATON: The ANC will eat and eat and eat until there’s nothing left to eat – Business Day (for subscribers)
DUMA GQUBULE: Ramaphosa takes ANC on a suicide mission with no economic revival plan – Business Day (for subscribers)
Qaanitah Hunter | You can do anything but never go against the ANC (*apologies to The Godfather) – News24 (for subscribers)
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
