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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ongoing electricity crisis and the ANC’s succession debate ahead of the party’s December elective conference took centre stage at anti-apartheid Struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s posthumous 86th birthday celebration on Monday.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Cyril Ramaphosa received a cordial welcome at Madikizela-Mandela’s former home in Soweto as he joined scores of people gathered to celebrate and honour her life.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408674\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday8.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa winnie birthday\" width=\"720\" height=\"414\" /> A crowd makes its way from the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to attend the official ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022 to celebrate the late Struggle icon’s birthday. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Ramaphosa sat alongside senior members of the ANC, he listened to speeches and messages of support which were hardly about Madikizela-Mandela, but directed at him and his presidency. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among them was one from the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) which urged him to tackle the Eskom crisis with urgency and decisiveness. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408672\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday6.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa lesufi winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"402\" /> Cyril Ramaphosa (right) and Panyaza Lesufi (in green shirt) gesture at the crowd in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas leaders told Ramaphosa that the ongoing electricity woes were partially to blame for the ANC’s declining electoral support. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas Secretary-General Teboho Magafane said: “Comrade President, our people in Soweto still love the ANC. There is no organisation outside the ANC, but the people in Soweto are tired of being treated like stepchildren of the ANC. President, we as young people want you to be decisive.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408676\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday10.jpg\" alt=\"winnie mk \" width=\"720\" height=\"381\" /> An uMkhonto weSizwe veteran keeps watch outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You must suspend [Eskom CEO André] de Ruyter. We can’t have problems with Eskom during democracy. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Comrade President, we are saying we love and respect you, but what we are requesting from you is for the peace of our country. Just suspend De Ruyter and [Public Enterprises Minister] Pravin Gordhan,” said Magafane as the crowd ululated in agreement. </span>\r\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation/11297505\"><script src=\"https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js\"></script></div>\r\n \r\n<h4><b>Second term</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newly elected chairperson of the Gauteng branch of the ANC, Panyaza Lesufi, affirmed the branch’s endorsement of Ramaphosa for re-election as ANC president. Ramaphosa is expected to contest the position against former health ministers Dr Zweli Mkhize and Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408680\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday14.jpg\" alt=\"rasta winnie portrait\" width=\"720\" height=\"406\" /> ‘Rasta’ the artist (right), in Orlando West, Soweto, beside his painting of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lesufi said that while the province had taken a decision to endorse Ramaphosa, their support was not without terms and conditions.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want him not because we hate other leaders, but because we want him to conclude what he started.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Lesufi, Ramaphosa had attracted billions of rands in investment into South Africa, ensured the efficiency of the judiciary and that peace prevailed, provided answers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and ensured the provision of the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant.</span>\r\n<h4><b>‘Endorsement not free’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But, Mr President, our endorsement in this province is not for free. The issue of Eskom must be solved. There is something that is called e-tolls, they must go. Our endorsement is not for free but we are humbled by the way you carry yourself.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lesufi also commended Ramaphosa’s composure in handling questions related to the Phala Phala saga.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Eskom ‘is killing us’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking to the podium to finally address the crowd, Ramaphosa admitted that constant power cuts had been giving him a headache.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Eskom is really killing us. And I am sure it is not treating you well at all at your homes, but it shall be well,” he said. But before he could even complete the sentence, the crowd shouted </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“kodwa nini”</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, loosely translated as “but when?”.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408681\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday1.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa crowd winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"403\" /> Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the crowd at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday celebration in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The President could not give a decisive answer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My heart gets really heavy when I see old people like you get bothered by Eskom, when the electricity is on and off, meaning you can’t cook, food in the fridges gets spoiled, I know all of that. We are busy trying to fix Eskom issues. All I can promise is that all will be well. Because it should be well. I know you want to know when.</span>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Visit <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage\"><em>Daily Maverick's</em> home page</a> for more news, analysis and investigations</strong>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If I say tomorrow, you’ll say Ramaphosa has lied again, so I can’t tell you when but I can promise you that it will be alright, because it has to be right.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramaphosa attributed the unending power cuts to damage at the power utility over the years. He did not address the calls to fire Gordhan and De Ruyter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing in his Monday weekly newsletter earlier, Ramaphosa admitted there were no quick fixes to the ongoing rolling blackouts which not only disrupted people’s lives, but endangered gains made in the country’s economic recovery. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408678\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday12.jpg\" alt=\"anc women's league winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"387\" /> Members of the ANC Women’s League sing and dance before the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Load shedding is beyond an inconvenience. It has dire consequences for nearly every part of our society, from education to public safety to the provision of health services. Large and small businesses alike are losing money and the energy crisis is endangering investment and our economic recovery.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There is a sense of despair that the situation does not seem to be improving and that there appears to be no end in sight to this crisis,” Ramaphosa wrote.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408683\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday3.jpg\" alt=\"women winnie birthday\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> Women take cover from the sun as they watch the ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He reiterated that there must be an end to the crisis. “We are making progress in the implementation of the additional actions I announced in July, even though the effects may not be immediately felt.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Unpaid staff</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas also took a swipe at the ANC leadership for failing to</span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pay staff at the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House in Johannesburg.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The workers took to the streets last week to air their grievances. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1408675\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday9.jpg\" alt=\"winnie crowd ramaphosa\" width=\"720\" height=\"385\" /> The large crowd that gathered outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela while they waited to catch a glimpse of President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Our leaders are going to use money to be voted into power, but they can’t pay staff. President, how do you sleep at night? Comrade Panyaza Lesufi how do you sleep?” asked Magafane as the crowd cheered in agreement.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Members of the ANC, if you are genuine enough you must defend staffers of Luthuli House more than anything,” he said. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ongoing electricity crisis and the ANC’s succession debate ahead of the party’s December elective conference took centre stage at anti-apartheid Struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s posthumous 86th birthday celebration on Monday.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Cyril Ramaphosa received a cordial welcome at Madikizela-Mandela’s former home in Soweto as he joined scores of people gathered to celebrate and honour her life.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408674\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408674\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday8.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa winnie birthday\" width=\"720\" height=\"414\" /> A crowd makes its way from the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to attend the official ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022 to celebrate the late Struggle icon’s birthday. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Ramaphosa sat alongside senior members of the ANC, he listened to speeches and messages of support which were hardly about Madikizela-Mandela, but directed at him and his presidency. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among them was one from the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) which urged him to tackle the Eskom crisis with urgency and decisiveness. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408672\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408672\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday6.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa lesufi winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"402\" /> Cyril Ramaphosa (right) and Panyaza Lesufi (in green shirt) gesture at the crowd in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas leaders told Ramaphosa that the ongoing electricity woes were partially to blame for the ANC’s declining electoral support. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas Secretary-General Teboho Magafane said: “Comrade President, our people in Soweto still love the ANC. There is no organisation outside the ANC, but the people in Soweto are tired of being treated like stepchildren of the ANC. President, we as young people want you to be decisive.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408676\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408676\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday10.jpg\" alt=\"winnie mk \" width=\"720\" height=\"381\" /> An uMkhonto weSizwe veteran keeps watch outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You must suspend [Eskom CEO André] de Ruyter. We can’t have problems with Eskom during democracy. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Comrade President, we are saying we love and respect you, but what we are requesting from you is for the peace of our country. Just suspend De Ruyter and [Public Enterprises Minister] Pravin Gordhan,” said Magafane as the crowd ululated in agreement. </span>\r\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation/11297505\"><script src=\"https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js\"></script></div>\r\n \r\n<h4><b>Second term</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newly elected chairperson of the Gauteng branch of the ANC, Panyaza Lesufi, affirmed the branch’s endorsement of Ramaphosa for re-election as ANC president. Ramaphosa is expected to contest the position against former health ministers Dr Zweli Mkhize and Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408680\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408680\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday14.jpg\" alt=\"rasta winnie portrait\" width=\"720\" height=\"406\" /> ‘Rasta’ the artist (right), in Orlando West, Soweto, beside his painting of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lesufi said that while the province had taken a decision to endorse Ramaphosa, their support was not without terms and conditions.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want him not because we hate other leaders, but because we want him to conclude what he started.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Lesufi, Ramaphosa had attracted billions of rands in investment into South Africa, ensured the efficiency of the judiciary and that peace prevailed, provided answers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and ensured the provision of the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant.</span>\r\n<h4><b>‘Endorsement not free’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But, Mr President, our endorsement in this province is not for free. The issue of Eskom must be solved. There is something that is called e-tolls, they must go. Our endorsement is not for free but we are humbled by the way you carry yourself.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lesufi also commended Ramaphosa’s composure in handling questions related to the Phala Phala saga.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Eskom ‘is killing us’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking to the podium to finally address the crowd, Ramaphosa admitted that constant power cuts had been giving him a headache.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Eskom is really killing us. And I am sure it is not treating you well at all at your homes, but it shall be well,” he said. But before he could even complete the sentence, the crowd shouted </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“kodwa nini”</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, loosely translated as “but when?”.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408681\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408681\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday1.jpg\" alt=\"ramaphosa crowd winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"403\" /> Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the crowd at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday celebration in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The President could not give a decisive answer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My heart gets really heavy when I see old people like you get bothered by Eskom, when the electricity is on and off, meaning you can’t cook, food in the fridges gets spoiled, I know all of that. We are busy trying to fix Eskom issues. All I can promise is that all will be well. Because it should be well. I know you want to know when.</span>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Visit <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage\"><em>Daily Maverick's</em> home page</a> for more news, analysis and investigations</strong>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If I say tomorrow, you’ll say Ramaphosa has lied again, so I can’t tell you when but I can promise you that it will be alright, because it has to be right.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramaphosa attributed the unending power cuts to damage at the power utility over the years. He did not address the calls to fire Gordhan and De Ruyter.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing in his Monday weekly newsletter earlier, Ramaphosa admitted there were no quick fixes to the ongoing rolling blackouts which not only disrupted people’s lives, but endangered gains made in the country’s economic recovery. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408678\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408678\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday12.jpg\" alt=\"anc women's league winnie\" width=\"720\" height=\"387\" /> Members of the ANC Women’s League sing and dance before the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Load shedding is beyond an inconvenience. It has dire consequences for nearly every part of our society, from education to public safety to the provision of health services. Large and small businesses alike are losing money and the energy crisis is endangering investment and our economic recovery.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There is a sense of despair that the situation does not seem to be improving and that there appears to be no end in sight to this crisis,” Ramaphosa wrote.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408683\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408683\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday3.jpg\" alt=\"women winnie birthday\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> Women take cover from the sun as they watch the ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He reiterated that there must be an end to the crisis. “We are making progress in the implementation of the additional actions I announced in July, even though the effects may not be immediately felt.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>Unpaid staff</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cosas also took a swipe at the ANC leadership for failing to</span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pay staff at the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House in Johannesburg.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The workers took to the streets last week to air their grievances. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1408675\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1408675\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nonku-CrWinnieBday9.jpg\" alt=\"winnie crowd ramaphosa\" width=\"720\" height=\"385\" /> The large crowd that gathered outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela while they waited to catch a glimpse of President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Our leaders are going to use money to be voted into power, but they can’t pay staff. President, how do you sleep at night? Comrade Panyaza Lesufi how do you sleep?” asked Magafane as the crowd cheered in agreement.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Members of the ANC, if you are genuine enough you must defend staffers of Luthuli House more than anything,” he said. </span><b>DM</b>",
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A crowd makes its way from the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to attend the official ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022 to celebrate the late Struggle icon’s birthday. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
Cyril Ramaphosa (right) and Panyaza Lesufi (in green shirt) gesture at the crowd in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
An uMkhonto weSizwe veteran keeps watch outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
‘Rasta’ the artist (right), in Orlando West, Soweto, beside his painting of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the crowd at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s birthday celebration in Orlando West, Soweto, on 26 September 2022. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
Members of the ANC Women’s League sing and dance before the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
Women take cover from the sun as they watch the ceremony in Orlando West, Soweto. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
The large crowd that gathered outside the house of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela while they waited to catch a glimpse of President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)