Durban - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday sent a stern warning to the people who he said “execute” the ruling party’s candidate councillors in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the municipal elections.
“I want to send a message to the people who execute our candidates. If you think you are to finish the ANC by executing our candidates, we are going to get you. We are to make sure you get arrested,” Ramaphosa said at a mini-rally at Folweni, south of Durban.
He also said the ANC would not be destroyed by the killing of its candidate councillors.
Out of the several ANC members killed in political violence, three were candidate councillors.
“It is clear there are people who don’t want to the ANC to succeed and win thee elections,” Ramaphosa said, to applause from thousands of supporters.
He was on a campaign trail at Ward 95, which experienced community protests after the community raised complaints over nominations of candidate councillors earlier this year.
Prior to Ramaphosa’s arrival, the ANC transported supporters and members in more than 20 buses from surrounding branches of Folweni eZimbokodweni, Phindela, KwaMakhutha, Adam’s Mission and Folweni – whose candidates were introduced at the mini-rally.
Some of the wards are contested by expelled ANC members who are independent candidates.
However, party supporters were made to wait for nearly four hours for the arrival of Ramaphosa, who was held up at a government event in Inanda, north of Durban, in a move that prompted the cancellation of a planned door-to-door-campaign.
Touching on jobs, Ramaphosa said: We know that there are no jobs. We are attending to that.” He blamed the lack of jobs on slow economic growth.
Ramaphosa called on the candidates to ensure that when they were elected, they did not steal council money and did not hire their relatives.