Fatshimetrie, your go-to news source, takes you to the heart of political action in South Africa, as ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula rolls out his door-to-door campaign in Ward 57, eThekwini .
In an effort to mobilize voters, Mbalula appealed to residents to resist the temptation to join the Jacob Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, stressing the importance of remaining loyal to their “home”. political, the ANC.
The province of KwaZulu-Natal is of vital importance to the ANC, having contributed two million of the party’s ten million votes nationally in the 2019 elections. This week, top ANC leaders as well as members of its national executive committee and representatives of its alliance partners are focusing on the region to ensure that the party maintains its majority after May 29.
The party faces a significant challenge in the province, facing the unlikely coalition involving the Democratic Alliance, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and smaller parties, as well as Zuma’s successful party. to win votes against the ANC in by-elections held earlier this year.
Mbalula has particularly focused on the north of the city, targeting traditional ANC strongholds such as Ntuzuma and Inanda, where the party risks losing votes due to the emergence of the MK party.
The ANC secretary-general visited homes to encourage residents to vote for the party and held a series of community meetings in Amaoti and Ntuzuma in eThekwini constituencies 57 and 107, where the vote share of the The ANC fell below 50% in the November 2021 local elections.
During a public meeting in Amaoti, Mbalula acknowledged problems relating to toilets, water and electricity supplies, but urged residents of the area, who had only received municipal services after 1994 , to “remember” who had provided them with these services.
Mbalula denounced the “scammers” who had compromised these services and called on residents to continue to support “their organization” to ensure the development of the region.
The ANC’s plans to expand the social grants system and increase youth employment through a national service program after the election were at the heart of Mbalula’s interactions with voters.
He announced that the ANC would transform the R350 distress relief grant introduced during the Covid-19 lockdown into a basic income grant after the election.
Young people will be offered work opportunities within the South African National Defense Force and other government agencies through a national service program to be introduced by an ANC government after the elections.
The ANC will also lift restrictions preventing people over 35 from accessing their first job, while prior experience requirements to enter the civil service will also be eased, Mbalula announced.
Despite the challenges facing the ANC, Mbalula stressed the importance of continuing to vote for a party that fought for the freedom of citizens and is now working to improve their lives.
He stressed that the ANC “protects freedom” and encouraged residents to use their “power” to keep the party in power by continuing to vote for it and persuading doubters to follow their lead.
As Mbalula tours the province’s only major metro, ANC national president Gwede Mantashe has been deployed to northern KwaZulu-Natal, where a bitter fight at the polls with the IFP is expected.
The first deputy general secretary of the ANC, Nomvula Mokonyane, is leading the campaign in the Midlands, a party stronghold also threatened by the emergence of the MK party.