Johannesburg - “I voted for Madiba,” thundered DA leader Mmusi Maimane in his final pitch to shift the electoral ground from under the ANC by claiming the legacy of its most cherished leader.
The ANC “was better” when Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were at the helm of the party, but “troubles and corruption” began when Jacob Zuma took the helm in December 2007, he continued.
Maimane was addressing thousands of supporters gathered at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto, where the official opposition held its last mass rally ahead of Wednesday’s local government election.
The DA has set its sights on controlling Joburg and Tshwane in Gauteng and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in the Eastern Cape. In this landmark race, the party needs to grow beyond its traditional support base of racial minorities and appeal to African voters.
The final campaigns came as the ANC was said to be trailing the DA in three key cities, including Tshwane and Joburg, according to an eighth and final opinion poll commissioned by eNCA.
Bloomberg reported on Saturday that the ANC support rose 3 points to 26 percent in Tshwane, which includes the capital, Pretoria, while the DA gained 1 point to 41 percent, according to the poll, which was compiled for the broadcaster by the research company, Ipsos.
The EFF lost 2 points to 11 percent, while 11 percent of those surveyed were undecided.
The DA’s chosen strategy in this campaign has been to appeal to the powerful legacy of Mandela and other ANC struggle stalwarts - to the ire of the ANC.
The move has pushed President Jacob Zuma to ever-more desperate appeals to racial solidarity when campaigning in black communities across the country.
Zuma has been quick to paint the DA as a “white party” and Maimane a puppet doing the bidding of his white masters.
The president is again expected to deliver body blows to Maimane’s campaign when he addresses thousands of ANC supporters who are expected to gather at Ellis Park Stadium on Sunday for the ruling party’s last major election rally before Wednesday’s poll.
During an ANC mini-election rally in Soweto on Friday, Zuma called Maimane a stooge of white people and also said that he was politically naive.
“He does not know Madiba’s views on the DA. Why is he using Madiba as his party’s icon? Why can’t he call the names of party veterans like (BJ) Vorster, (Hendrik) Verwoerd, PW Botha and others,” said Zuma as he savaged Maimane’s campaign.
On Saturday, Maimane fought back accusing Zuma of allegedly having turned the ANC into an “organisation of thieves”.
Prior to launching the attack on Zuma, Maimane told thousands of his supporters who packed the stadium that he voted for the ANC in 1999.
The crowd included his parents and other senior leaders of the DA as well as struggle stalwart and City of Cape Town mayor, Patricia de Lille.
The ANC’s push to stop Maimane using Nelson Mandela’s name in his campaign appears to have fallen on deaf ears. The DA leader dedicated most of his address singing the praises ofMandela, including associating hislegacy with the DA.
According to Maimane, Mandela was above party politics and, unlike Zuma, he was on a mission to unite the black, white, Indian and coloured people, saying the DA was continuing that legacy.
“I was 9 years old when Madiba was released from jail. I was 13 when Madiba was sworn in as president. Those two events are important milestones in the history of the country. When I had an opportunity to vote for the first time, I voted for Madiba,” Maimane said.
“Corruption in the ANC started when Jacob Zuma took over in Polokwane in December 2007. It was for this reason that Thabo Mbeki described the ANC under Zuma as an ignoble parasitic and corrupt organisation.
“A selfless organisation was turned into a selfish organisation for accumulation. Under Zuma, the ANC looks after the interests of the connected few. They think for themselves. They only think for their stomachs. Everything that Madiba stood for came to an end when Zuma took over,” Maimane said.
However, he said that former SACP leader Chris Hani had forewarned the nation about the greed that had bedevilled some of the ANC leaders.
“Hani warned us against ANC leaders who drive luxury cars but fail to deliver services to the people. Hani warned us that another Nkandla is coming. Under Zuma, black people and black lives do not matter,” Maimane said.
He urged his supporters to prefer a ballot box over a bullet, saying their vote would bring change in every metropolitan council and all smaller municipalities in the country.
“A ballot box is far more important than a bullet. We don’t want bloodshed. We don’t want war through a barrel of a gun. You must vote for change. We must remove this government of corrupt people. I am not asking you to take membership of the DA. I am asking you to vote for change,” Maimane said.
He said in municipalities in Cape Town and Midvaal, where the DA was the governing party, unemployment was lower compared to municipalities under the ANC control.
“We do the basics better. Tenders are awarded fairly in DA-controlled municipalities. Just give us five years to run these municipalities. If we do not deliver, then you can vote us out.
“In these elections, we want to bring change. Remember Madiba said if the ANC is not delivering services we must do what we did to the apartheid government. “It is about time that we do exactly that,” he said.
The Sunday Independent