President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the media after casting his vote in Soweto. He was accompanied by the first lady, Dr Tshepo Motsepe. (Amanda Khoza/News24)

• President Cyril Ramaphosa is aware that some political parties are not happy with his address to the nation on Sunday.
• The DA approached the Electoral Court and filed an application against the president.
• Ramaphosa spoke to the media after casting his vote at the Hitekani Primary School.

President Cyril Ramaphosa defended his decision to address the nation on Sunday – two days before the 2024 general elections – and said his message was not an electioneering stunt. 

“Some political parties have taken issue with the address I delivered.

“It had two components: one component was to talk about the readiness of the elections, and the other component was to close off the administration,” he said on Wednesday.

He addressed the media after casting his vote at the Hitekani Primary School in Chiawelo, Soweto.  

Opposition parties accused Ramaphosa of using the platform to campaign for the election. News24 reported that, in his address, Ramaphosa detailed the progress made during the sixth administration.

He also spoke about the significance of Wednesday’s election and other security matters, but a large part of his speech was about his government’s successes.

It included the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, tackling corruption, gender-based violence, and the signing into law of the National Health Insurance.

The DA approached the Electoral Court with regard to Ramaphosa’s address – and the party wants 1% of ANC votes in Wednesday’s general election to be docked as well as a R200 000 fine imposed on the president as punishment for his “thinly veiled political campaign”.

The DA accused Ramaphosa of violating the Electoral Code of Conduct when he “abused the highest office in the land for flagrant electioneering”.

In its founding affidavit, the DA’s Helen Zille said that, by the time the court was able to adjudicate the dispute, the elections would be over, hence the call for 1% to be docked.

Former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party also threatened legal action against Ramaphosa. 

READ | DA takes Ramaphosa to Electoral Court over ‘national address’, wants ANC docked 1% of votes

In response, Ramaphosa said he addressed the nation because the sixth administration – of which he was in charge since 2018 – had come to a close. 

“We sought to say to the people of South Africa, as they go to the elections, to choose whichever party they want, and they should be assured that a great deal of work has been done by all of us.

“All South Africans have been involved in pushing this country forward, and I was very careful to say: ‘All of us South Africans’.

“But, that is a matter that is now subject to the courts, and the less said, even by myself, the better – because, in the end, those that we decided to adjudicate over disputes among us, our judges, are the ones who will pronounce the final judgment on this matter, so let’s leave it there,” said Ramaphosa.