“NO ELECTRICITY, NO VOTE,” SOUTH AFRICANS THREATEN TO SHUN RULING PARTY ANC. (PHOTO)

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 “No electricity, no vote,” South Africans threaten to shun ruling party ANC Residents in Katlehong, a township outside Johannesburg, have resolved to boycott South Africa's upcoming local elections on November 4 due to long-standing failures by authorities to provide basic services like electricity. For over 20 years, around 180 households in the community have relied on illegal electrical connections pulled from neighboring areas to power their homes. Angry over the lack of formal grid infrastructure, residents are directing their frustration at the ruling African National Congress (ANC). "We have made a collective decision: no electricity, no vote," said community leader Lesiba Rankapole, 59. "We know it is illegal, but we had no choice because we cannot live without electricity. Our children cannot progress without electricity." "I was born ANC, but today I do not want anyone to tell me about the ANC because I am suffering," added 57-year-old resid...

SIX BODIES PULLED FROM ILLEGAL SOUTH AFRICAN GOLDMINE. (PHOTO)


 Six bodies pulled from illegal South African goldmine


Six bodies have been recovered over the past two days from an abandoned mine in the town of Stilfontein in South Africa, where hundreds of clandestine miners are still underground, a community leader told AFP.


"Six bodies were retrieved in two days, four today and two yesterday," said Johannes Qankase, a spokesperson for the nearby township of Khuma, where most of the miners live.


The abandoned gold mines some 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of the economic capital Johannesburg have been encircled over the past four weeks by police seeking to dislodge "zama zamas" ("those who try" in the Zulu language) who are working there illegally.


It is unclear exactly how many miners are still underground. A local man said he was told there were around 4,000, though police said the figure was probably in the hundreds.


Difficult conditions


Authorities have been limiting water and food provisions in an attempt to make them leave the mine.


Thousands of "zama zamas", many from neighbouring Mozambique and Lesotho, endure difficult conditions to work and live in mineral-rich South Africa.


Some locals associate their presence with a rise in criminality, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called them a "menace" to the country's economy and security.

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