19, August 2016
The decline of the ANC: Opposition Councillor elected mayor of Pretoria 0
South Africa’s ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), has been dealt a major blow as an opposition politician is named as the mayor of the capital Pretoria for the first time since the end of Apartheid two decades ago. Opposition councilor Solly Msimanga, 36, of the liberal center-right Democratic Alliance (DA), was elected Pretoria mayor on Friday.
“The people decided which way they want the city to go, and it was not the direction that it has been taking in the last… years,” Msimanga said in his inaugural speech to the city council. People are “tired of corruption, they are tired of nepotism, they are tired of cronyism… they are tired of work only given to members of certain families and their friends,” he said.
Msimanga vowed to end the patronage that he said had left the capital in the red. “This city is technically bankrupt right now because of greediness and because of people who decided to put themselves first,” he said. “No more will our people suffer under the hands of the ANC.” The ANC councilors heckled Msimanga during his speech.
It is the first time since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 that Pretoria, also known as Tshwane, is not headed by a mayor from the ANC. The loss for the ANC and victory for the DA follows nationwide municipal elections earlier this month. The ANC lost control of three major cities, namely, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Nationwide, as well, the party suffered its worst results in 22 years in the municipal vote, gaining less than 54 percent of ballots cast, an eight percentage point drop from the last local elections in 2011. The ANC was once viewed as the South African party upholding the ideas and tenets of anti-Apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, and the DA as the party serving rich white South Africans.
Presstv
20, August 2016
Race for the White House: New Poll shows 8-percentage point lead by Clinton over Trump 0
US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has taken an 8-percentage point lead over her Republican rival, Donald Trump, in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential race, according to a new poll. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, released on Friday evening, shows the former secretary of state has 42 percent of the votes as compared to the New York billionaire having only a 34-percent support. Another 23 percent wouldn’t pick either candidate.
However, Clinton’s lead over Trump slimmed slightly in a four-way match-up that included Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. She received 41 percent to his 34 percent. In that scenario, Johnson earned 7 percent, while Stein bagged 2 percent. The poll was conducted from August 14 to 18 among a national sample of 1,118 of adults and 1,119 likely voters. The margin of error for both samples is 3 points. Reuters noted that at this point of the race four years ago, President Barack Obama was leading his Republican challenger Mitt Romney by less than 2 points.
According to Pew Research Center poll, released on Thursday, a majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Trump, with 55 percent saying he would make a poor or terrible president, while 45 percent saying the same about Clinton. Thirty-one percent say Clinton would make a good or great president, while 27 percent say the same of Trump. Those who back Trump say, 81 percent to 11 percent, that life is worse now for US citizens than it was 50 years ago. However, Clinton supporters — 59 percent — say life is better than five decades ago and 19 percent say it is worse.
Presstv