South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the ruling ANC will work hard to drive job creation amid an increase in the rate of unemployment as election campaigns begin across the country.
Ramaphosa made the comments while delivering his keynote address in a packed Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.
“Our jobs plan, building our industries including an inclusive economy. We will tackle the high cost of living, we will also invest in our people. We will defend democracy and advance freedom and we will continue to build a better Africa and a better world by renewing the mandate of the ANC,” Ramaphosa said.
The president's embittered predecessor, Jacob Zuma is also expected to address rival events in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, a key electoral battleground.
In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, Ramaphosa's African National Congress has suffered decline in support, beset by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
It is facing an uphill battle to keep its parliamentary majority, with polls showing it particularly vulnerable in KwaZulu-Natal -- Zuma's home province.
The vote may prove historic, with opinion polls showing Ramaphosa's ANC party on less than 50 percent in nationwide elections for the first time in South Africa's three decades of democracy.
If the African National Congress (ANC), which has led South Africa since its first free elections in 1994 after the end of apartheid rule, does not win a majority it will need coalition allies to form a government.
Complaints have been mounting about South Africa's soaring violent crime rate, lacklustre economy, power cuts and unemployment.
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