ANC invades Cape Town January 4 2015 at 09:46am By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Cape Town - In a show of force in the Western Cape, the only province it doesn’t control, the ANC’s top leadership has invaded Cape Town – in an exercise marked by door-to-door mobilisation and high-level visits to taxi ranks. This will culminate in a rally expected to be attended by more than 50 000 supporters to celebrate the party’s 103rd anniversary. President Jacob Zuma and his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa arrive in Cape Town on Sunday to lead a massive contingent of ANC leaders, most of whom are already in the city participating in various party activities. The ANC’s arrival in Cape Town has not been without tensions with the DA, the official opposition which runs the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town. ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said they were past the “signs of frustrations” they had experienced with the DA-led Cape Town municipality, which demanded full payment for the use of the stadium because it claimed it was owed money by the ANC’s provincial office. “This is a national event and we expect ANC members and supporters to come in their numbers. As we speak, there are already people who have arrived for the Saturday event,” said Kodwa. However, he said the choice of the DA-led Western Cape as the venue for the celebrations had nothing to do with campaigning for the 2016 local government elections. “The principle of rotating the host (province) is what brought us here to Cape Town. The election campaigning will come much later. “Planning and organising is already under way for the campaign, but this event is not related to that,” said Kodwa. The party said yesterday it had made contingencies in case more people than expected arrived at the stadium for its January 8 anniversary statement on Saturday. The party has denied using the event as a springboard for its local election campaign in the province. But its programme for the week shows its national and provincial leaders will visit many parts of the province, including the Cape Town metro and the West Coast and Boland regions of the province. With the 2016 local government elections edging closer, the governing party is under pressure to retain all the metros it governs, especially those in Gauteng. There is also pressure to mount a serious campaign to increase its support in the Western Cape and to eventually win it back, along with the Cape Town metro. This remains an uphill battle with the DA maintaining its support in the province in the provincial elections last year, while its support grew in the prized Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metros in Gauteng. Many of the more than 50 000 people expected to fill the Cape Town stadium will be coming from other provinces. The DA wrestled the province from the ANC in the 2009 elections. The emergence of the EFF on the political landscape has also added to the ANC’s electoral woes. Party leaders, including Zuma and Ramaphosa, will start mobilising support for their rally tomorrow. The ANC uses the annual January 8 founding celebrations to outline its programme for the year in a speech delivered by the party’s incumbent president. Zuma is expected to do walk-abouts and attend public meetings in various townships around Cape Town, including Langa, Nyanga and Mitchells Plain. In Cape Town Zuma will be joined by 80 national executive committee members and ministers Nomvula Mokonyane and Derek Hanekom. Ramaphosa is also expected to hit the townships, but his schedule also includes door-to-door visits and mobilising campaign at taxi ranks and train stations. “There were a lot of by-laws that we had to comply with, and we did. At first it was clear there were signs of frustration with us hosting the celebrations here. We are past those things now and we are ready for the business that has brought us here,” said Kodwa. He said all political parties were looking to strengthen their bases, but that the weekend event had nothing do with campaigning. Sunday Independent
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 23:59:31 +0000