Langeloop, Mpumalanga - President Jacob Zuma has mocked “copycat” opposition parties for obsessing about Nkandla and corruption, saying this was because they had nothing else to offer.
A clearly upbeat and jovial Zuma also took swipes at South Africans who claimed the country was better under apartheid, encouraging them to seek medical attention because they were “sick in the head”.
Speaking in Zulu, Zuma urged voters to not to waste their valuable votes on “angry” political parties formed by expelled ANC members whose names he could not even remember – a clear reference to Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters.
The DA and Cope were not spared Zuma’s scorn either. He called them “copycats” and “parties of legal technicalities”.
Zuma had the crowd in stitches as he made mocking gestures while saying “Nkandla” repeatedly.
He was addressing a crowd of more than 3 000 supporters in the village of Langeloop on the last day of his visit to the ANC’s Mpumalanga stronghold. He was accompanied by Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza and State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
“These parties that are always talking will never talk about policies. They shy away from them because they don’t have policies like the ANC. All they know is to talk about Nkandla as if Nkandla will win them the elections.”
Some party leaders were elected through courts. “They don’t know democracy. All they know is to run to court because they have no logic to debate with the ANC logically.
“They are parties of legal technicalities… They only speak about two things when you count them. Corruption and Nkandla. Nkandla report, Nkandla report,” Zuma said to cheers and laughter.
Some people had forgotten the brutality of apartheid.
“They say life was better under apartheid. A person who says that should be taken to a ‘nyanga’ (traditional healer) because they are sick, he’s not well in the head. If there’s a black person who speaks like that, we must help them because they are in trouble, they are sick.”
Earlier, Zuma spoke to residents of Tonga, who told him of their hardships like the poor state of the roads, which ambulances could not use.
Obert Mahlombe shared her sentiments. “We will give the ANC another chance to carry one, but the roads in Nkomazi are bad, especially the road to hospital.”
Mabuza promised the provincial government would repair the road.
Political Bureau