Cape Town - ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged supporters in the Western Cape to launch a grassroots drive to defeat the Democratic Alliance in the province in the May 7 elections.
“Let us be ready to return the ANC back into power here in the Western Cape,” Ramaphosa told some 200 party supporters in Lwandle township outside Somerset West.
“This can only happen if the ANC is strong at branch level ... Luthuli House cannot do everything.
“(It) will not happen when we are sitting in our offices, it will only happen if we come out of our offices and go into the areas ... in every area, every township, every village,” he added.
Ramaphosa accused DA leader Helen Zille of neglecting delivery in the province, while trying to attract publicity with the party's march on the ANC headquarters last week.
“Wherever we go, they are crying tears because of poor service. Coloured people tell us they also want the ANC but we have to infiltrate,” he added, switching smoothly between English, Xhosa and Zulu.
Ramaphosa was one of four ANC leaders to campaign in the Western Cape at the weekend.
Secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, and deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte were addressing communities as far afield as Paarl, Grabouw and Saldanha as part of the concerted drive to oust the DA.
He reiterated the central message of President Jacob Zuma's state of the nation address on Thursday that the ruling party had significantly improved the lives of South Africans in the past 20 years.
“In the ANC we have a good story to tell, South Africa is a better place to live. Yes we have made mistakes, but we are taking corrective action,” he said.
The DA has been in power in the Western Cape since 2009, when it won just over 51 percent of the vote in the province. - Sapa