Soweto was buzzing when former president Thabo Mbeki visited Jabulani Mall as part of the ANC’s campaign trail ahead of the national and provincial elections.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has roped in former president Thabo Mbeki to campaign in the province as the party battles to contain fierce competition from the DA, IFP, EFF and the Jacob Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP).
The ANC is roping in its heavyweights to bolster its campaign ahead of the May 29 polls, with Kgalema Motlanthe, David Mabuza, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Baleka Mbete also expected to campaign for the party.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the province last week and is expected to return ahead of the elections to spearhead various campaigns that will include engagements with the business community.
In KZN, the party has deployed its former chairs Willies Mchunu, Senzo Mchunu, Zweli Mkhize, Bheki Cele and S’bu Ndebele to bolster the provincial leadership, also roping in former health minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to be on the ground in the province.
Mbeki on Thursday assisted the party in garnering votes in Soweto, leading a walkabout and meet-and-greet at the Jabulani Mall.
He was the only party president to win a two-thirds majority, when the ANC was re-elected in 2004, and in November, the Social Research Foundation published a survey that revealed that Mbeki was the most popular politician among the public and the ANC faithful, scoring higher than Ramaphosa.
Previously, he had said he could not campaign for a party that could not be trusted to deliver on its promises but the ANC yesterday said his participation in the campaign now puts an end to the speculation surrounding his involvement ahead of the polls.
The party’s national spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, said in the days remaining before the polls more ANC stalwarts, former leaders and veterans would intensify their involvement in the election campaign.
“They stand as vanguards in our endeavour to win the people’s confidence, galvanise support for the ANC, and invest tangibly in improving the lives of our citizens.
“This approach underscores our people-driven and centred strategy, aiming to fulfil the ANC’s historical mission to achieve a better life for all,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said all former leaders of the ANC who had constituencies were expected to campaign for the party.
“President Mbeki has expressed his desire to campaign for the ANC and those who have led it with excellence are working for the party.
“He expressed his wish to do door-to-door campaigning but we cannot take an elderly party leader to far-flung areas of the province. We prefer him to do round-table discussions, engage with business and influencers, but he wishes to go where the people are.”
Ramaphosa had said that the organisation’s veteran leaders, including former presidents and deputies, would join their campaign trail.
“Many leaders in the ANC are going to come out from all parts of South Africa to campaign and it all depends on the programmes of those individual leaders. The time and place is something that will be determined and they will all come out because they are irrevocably ANC and they support the campaign that we are on and they want to see the ANC victory, so they are all going to come out.”
In February the party’s head of elections, former KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli, told The Mercury that a large number of constituencies had immense respect for the former president, including the coloured working-class in the Western Cape.
He had said statistics showed that the ANC enjoyed the biggest support from the coloured working-class constituency in the 1999 and 2004 elections when Mbeki was president.
Mbeki would also engage with business and the country’s middle structure, Ntuli said.
The Mercury
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