Nelspruit – Thousands of African National Congress supporters were arriving at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Sunday morning ahead of the party’s Mpumalanga August 3 municipal elections manifesto launch.
After 10am, most of the seats in the 41,000-seat stadium were unoccupied but the ANC faithful, mostly dressed in yellow ANC T-shirts bearing President Jacob Zuma’s image, were trickling in.
Zuma, also ANC president, and Mpumalanga premier and ANC provincial chairman David Mabuza are scheduled to address the gathering.
Teenage ANC supporters Tracy Nhlengwa, 16, and Sthembiso Mabasa, 19, said they had looked forward to this day for months now.
“We want the ANC to stay in control here. That is very important because it means equality will continue for everyone. We support the party of our parents,” said Nhlengwa.
Mabasa said as a university student she believed the future of young professionals was secure under ANC guard.
“This is the party of Nelson Mandela. Madiba taught us that education is the key to emancipation. So we are here to honour his legacy. Our future lies in the ANC,” she said.
On Saturday, more than 80,000 supporters packed the gigantic FNB Stadium in Johannesburg for the Gauteng ANC manifesto launch.
The crowd cheered as Zuma made his way into the stadium, singing songs as he walked around the field waving at them. The crowd appeared to be unfazed that the programme had been delayed by at least three hours after it had been officially set to begin at 11am.
Gauteng premier and provincial ANC deputy chairman David Makhura announced earlier that 80,128 people had entered the 96,000-seat stadium.
However, many people began leaving the stadium before Zuma started speaking – after the main speaker of the day, Gauteng ANC chairman Paul Mashatile, had finished his speech.
African News Agency