Children draw water from a borehole in Ledig village in Rustenburg, North West. Picture: SOWETAN/SUNDAY WORLD
Children draw water from a borehole in Ledig village in Rustenburg, North West. Picture: SOWETAN/SUNDAY WORLD

Related articles

In this article

DOZENS of men and women dressed in African National Congress (ANC) colours met on Friday afternoon in the Rustenburg village of Ledig, North West, near Sun City, next to a dilapidated community building.

Waiting for the start of an ANC people’s forum, they sang: "When President Jacob Zuma speaks we listen; when the opposition speak we tell them to get lost."

The group of about 60 volunteers and branch members of wards 14, 28 and 30 in Ledig had started conducting door-to-door campaigns early on Friday, urging voters among the village’s 30,000 residents to choose the ANC in the May 7 general elections.

Less than 100m from where the meeting on Friday afternoon was being held, a local ANC office, painted black, green and gold, has been turned into an election operations centre. The walls of the four-roomed house are covered with charts showing campaign statistics in Ledig.

This centre is where party members and volunteers meet before being dispatched to take the ANC’s election message into the village.

In depth: Election 2014

Election poll 2014News, views and analysis of South Africa's national and provincial elections on May 7 2014

The ruling party’s 3,687 branches countrywide are expected to do the same every day in the run-up to May 7. The people’s forums — also attended by senior local leaders — are meant to show that the ANC listens to South Africans’ concerns.

Disele Phologane, a member of the ANC provincial executive committee and the party’s spokesman in Bojanala region, which includes Rustenburg, presided over Friday’s forum.

Some of those who attended criticised the ANC. Speaking to his peers while waiting for the programme to start, a young man offered his diagnosis of "the problem with the ANC". He said the party was on the right track and had the right intentions. However, there were credibility challenges, he added, which he blamed on "leaders, councillors and mayors" in it for themselves, not for the people.

The meeting started with a request for more people to go door to door, to gauge voters’ support and ensure that those who intend to vote for the ANC have identity documents and are on the voters’ roll.

The ANC’s election strategy was also discussed. The three weeks before the elections will mark the start of the Mayihlome ("prepare for battle") phase, according to the party’s election manual, when "we have to intensify our work and make sure that we directly reach every ANC and potential ANC voter".

The campaign phases before Mayihlome focused on voter registration.

At least three events took place in Ledig over the weekend, including a church service of the Zion Christian Church, which is among South Africa’s biggest in terms of followers. ANC members and volunteers were told to use these events to remind the people to vote for the party.

The next campaign phase is Siyanqoba ("we are winning"), which includes a major rally to consolidate support.

According to Mr Phologane, Ledig will send at least two or three busloads of supporters to the Siyanqoba rally, expected to take place early next month in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Those who wanted to attend the rally were urged to register after Friday’s meeting and told to use the coming week to persuade others to do the same.

Mr Zuma will be the main speaker at the Siyanqoba rally.