Siyavuya Mzantsi and Raphael Wolf
Several ministers and some of the ANC’s top brass branched out across the city on Wednesday, conducting door to door campaigns and meetings in various areas before the State of the Nation address (Sona).
ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) members were deployed for various programmes aimed at “building broader community interest in the address and in preparation for the party’s upcoming Election Manifesto Launch” in Port Elizabeth next month.
ANC programme co-ordinator and provincial committee member Richard Dyantyi said officials had a slow start in Wednesday’s campaign and were to intensify it on Thursday.
NEC members Bheki Cele, and ministers Dipuo Peters, Siyabonga Cwele and Mathole Motshekga visited residents in Mfuleni and Delft.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, along with Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and NEC member Thoko Didiza conducted visits and held a community meeting in Dunoon. “The aim for these was to encourage people to go and register for the upcoming municipal elections. We were not pleased with how things were, but we picked up towards the end of the day.
“These programmes will run until Sunday. We still have time as Minister Edna Molewa is addressing ANC members at Intlanganiso High School in Khayelitsha,” Dyantyi said.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela visited Cape Town harbour yesterday to monitor the progress of Operation Phakisa.
The Presidency initiated Operation Phakisa in 2014 to unlock the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.
“I’m quite excited with what the leadership (of the port) has done. I’m pleased with the progress of the implementation of Operation Phakisa,” said Manamela, citing the aspect of youth training among people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete yesterday said there would be no extraordinary security measures during the Sona tomorrow, despite EFF threats to disrupt President Jacob Zuma’s address.
Some roads in the CBD were closed during the SANDF parade rehearsals for Sona. Hundreds of people watched as the military groups paraded through the city.
Motorists were diverted during the rehearsal.