ANC STATEMENT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

The African National Congress is approaching November's local
government elections with the same earnestness and determination
that earned us the mandate of the people in the country's national
and provincial elections.

We welcome the passing by parliament of the amendment to the
constitution which will enable the elections to go ahead in most
parts of the country. The holding of local government elections on 1
November is crucial if we are to complete our democratic
transformation and make substantial progress in reconstructing and
developing our country.

Those parties who are criticising the passage of the bill as a
departure from parliamentary norms have failed to consider the
broader implications of not allowing the bill to pass - many more
months of illegitimate and powerless local government. The ANC
believes that parties like the IFP and DP are prepared to fiddle
with rules and procedures while the most basic demands of ordinary
citizens go unaddressed.

PARTY AND CANDIDATE REGISTRATION

Given the importance of these elections, the ANC has - over the
last two days - been enthusiastically registering our candidates for
local government elections throughout the country.

The late demarcation of wards meant we have had to work very
hard in a very short space of time to collect the requisite number
of signatures for our ward candidates.

Our preliminary calculation is that the ANC has registered close
to 6000 candidates for about 660 elections countrywide. We have
registered to contest 100% of elections and are fielding candidates
in about 85% of the country's wards.

We are confident that we have met all the requirements for party
and candidate registration. We are however preparing legal back-up
to assist candidates with correcting any rejected applications by
the deadline of 20 September.

For the next six weeks all our candidates and elections teams
will be fully involved in the campaign, holding people's forums on
local issues and canvassing door-to-door. The main thrust of our
campaign is based on or slogan "A better life: Let's make it happen
where we live".

LAST REGISTRATION OPPORTUNITY

The African National Congress is encouraged by the enthusiasm of
voters from around the country who have demonstrated their desire to
take part in the local government elections.

This is an indication of people's commitment to working together
with democratically elected local representatives to bring about
substantial change in their communities.

The ANC welcomes the extension of the registration deadline to
enable people to register in the two weeks between 11 and 25
September. We call on all eligible citizens who haven't yet
registered or whose names do not appear on the voters roll to make
use of this last opportunity and to register before 25 September.

In light of people's enthusiasm, the ANC is concerned by the low
registration figures in several key parts of the country. An
analysis of the voters roll in many areas indicates that many
figures are generally low, while others do't rflect accurately the
composition of the area.

Some areas, like Pretoria and Bloemfontein, suggest that there
are substantial numbers of township residents who haven't
registered. Unless this situation improves, these towns and cities
are facing a situation where their local government remains
unrepresentative and unresponsive to the needs of the majority of
its citizens.

Our experience over the last couple of weeks suggests that there
is substantial interest among all South Africans to participate in
the local government elections. Until 25 September the ANC will be
doing its utmost to ensure that this interest is translated into
registered voters.

Issued by:
The Department of Information and Publicity,
P.O. Box 61884, Marshalltown 2107, Johannesburg.
13 September 1995