Durban - President Jacob Zuma and opposition leader Mmusi Maimane took their respective election campaigns to Durban on Saturday as Maimane described the August local government elections as “a referendum on Jacob Zuma”.
The president, who failed on Friday in his appeal against a court ruling that corruption charges against him be reinstated, looked relaxed as he gave the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) a task - persuade the youth to vote for the ANC.
“You must find innovative ways of reaching out to them on Facebook; Twitter and other social media,” he said, as he urged them to stop burning schools and looting shops to address their grievances.
Zuma, who was speaking at the ANCYL’s youth month rally in Durban, did not mention Friday’s setback he suffered in the Pretoria High Court but appeared to be referring to the rampage in Pretoria this week that followed his appointment of Thoko Didiza as Tshwane’s mayoral candidate.
Maimane, who took his campaign to Verulam, launched an attack on Zuma and the ANC saying “this election is actually on the future of South Africa. It’s a referendum on Jacob Zuma. It is a referendum to say we can’t be voting for Guptas or the state capture that we are seeing.”
Maimane said while the infighting within the ANC continues to brew and burn around the country, the DA will use the “turbulence” being experienced by the ruling party to their advantage.
He was referring to the announcement of Didiza as the ANC’s Tshwane mayoral candidate, which sparked the violence this past week.
In KwaZulu-Natal, factions aligned to Zandile Gumede and James Nxumalo, mayoral candidates for the eThekwini region, were locked in a long and bitter feud. Gumede eventually ascended to the position in December.
“The ANC is fighting among themselves over patronage. The discussions and destruction centres around who is going to steal more,” Maimane claimed. “Which is what you saw in Tshwane. It’s a huge crisis for the people of Tshwane. It means that they end up destroying public property.”
Recently, there was rumbling within the DA’s own leadership in eThekwini ward 23 (Clare Estate and Reservoir Hills areas).
Members of the ward’s executive refused to accept a “shack dweller” as the party’s nominated candidate for the elections and expressed their disapproval with their resignations.
Maimane insisted that it was “time for change” for leadership in the country and his party was ready to take up the challenge and charter South Africans on a more prosperous path.
He also predicted his party would produce its best election showing since the country entered democracy. “We are the only party that has grown steadily since the 1994 elections and we’ve made it our focus to continue that growth. We are the only alternative for South Africans, we are out win. What other choice do our people have? Will they choose corruption or the military wing of the ANC and the EFF, or will they choose change, clean governance and service delivery?”
At the youth rally, ANCYL president Collen Maine told Zuma the time had come for young people to lead. He expressed the young lions’ dismay at the ANC’s mayoral candidates list, saying they were not happy the list was dominated by older people.
Maine said it was time for the old guard to pass on the baton to the young because they were capable of leading the party, which turned 104 this year. He issued a word of caution, saying they would “crush” those who stood in their way.
While on the podium, Maine turned to Zuma and said: “Thank you baba and your generation for going into exile and everything you have done but we must take over and lead the ANC and the country now.”
He reiterated the ANCYL’s stance on economic freedom and free education for all. “We want free education like yesterday,”
Sunday Tribune