THOUSANDS packed the FNB Stadium for the African National Congress final rally on Sunday ahead of the 2014 polls, with President Jacob Zuma expected to deliver the main address after midday.
The stadium was packed with 95,000 supporters wearing ANC colours, most with Mr Zuma’s image emblazoned on the front.
Mr Zuma was twice booed during appearances at the FNB stadium — at the official memorial service for former president Nelson Mandela in December and a soccer match earlier this year.
The ANC has reportedly denied that those attending were vetted ahead of the gathering to prevent a repeat of the booing on the doorstep of the election.
The ANC's Siyanqoba rally is a main part of the party's campaign strategy to build up enthusiasm for the elections. Siyanqoba means "we are winning". Provincial ANC structures in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape are also staging similar rallies, with Mr Zuma's address expected to be beamed at all venues.
In depth: Election 2014
News, views and analysis of South Africa's national and provincial elections on May 7 2014Head of elections Malusi Gigaba told the crowd that stadiums across the country were also packed to capacity.
Before Mr Zuma's arrival Nelson Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, wearing all black and flanked by six bodyguards, got a rousing welcome from ANC supporters when she walked to the main stage. Mr Gigaba referred to Ms Madikizela as "Mama," a symbolic title she got for the role she played alongside Mr Mandela in the apartheid struggle.
ANC supporters carried mock coffins with Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Democratic Alliance (DA) painted on them. A plane with a DA banner trailing behind it was booed by the crowd as it flew past the stadium.
Parties were on Sunday holding their final rallies ahead of Wednesdays poll, in which over 25-million people are registered to vote.
The EFF was holding its final rally in Atteridgeville on Sunday. The DA held a rally on Saturday and a concert in Kliptown on Sunday.
The DA said on Sunday that 3 buses ferrying supporters to Kliptown were attacked and stoned, allegedly by ANC supporters.
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