Daily Dispatch

No longer the drawcard

THIS morning we report that the ANC’s top officials will hold a meeting with the Eastern Cape leadership to receive a “report” on this weekend’s manifesto launch in Port Elizabeth.

Clearly, party bosses are looking for answers as to why organisers failed to fill up the 46 000-seater Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

But the irony of it all is that, instead of the local ANC leaders providing the answers, it should be the man at the top of the table, President Jacob Zuma, who should be called to account.

He was the drawcard for the event and he failed to get the masses to dance to his tune.

When he came into office, Zuma was sold as “a man of the people”, someone who possessed the personal touch that his “aloof” predecessor Thabo Mbeki so lacked – we were told.

Even the excuse that the buses – meant to transport thousands from other parts of the province – were not paid on time rings hollow.

The ANC is the governing party at Nelson Mandela Bay and this should be enough to demonstrate that the party enjoys popular support. Even a cursory glance at the 2011 local government elections shows this. Roughly 170 000 people turned out to vote for the ANC in that election, giving the party 51.91% of the vote.

Most of these were supporters who left their homes of their own volition and went out to cast their votes. They did not wait for a bus to ferry them to their voting stations.

Surely the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay did not have to rely on the support from any other region, let alone other provinces.

With just 30% of those who cast their votes for the ANC in 2011, this would have been enough to fill the stadium.

The excuse about the late payment for buses is a red herring, intended to conceal the glaring reality that the ANC’s supporters have had it with Zuma.

Elsewhere it has been reported that ANC leaders were plotting to remove Zuma after the August 3 polls, as they feared that removing him before the elections could cost them votes.

This argument makes no sense as Zuma is more of a threat to the ANC’s electoral prospects by remaining in office.

If anything, the party can only gain from his departure. No one takes him seriously anymore, as could be seen from the scenes of supporters walking out of the stadium during his address.

Others did not even bother attending and went straight to catch the waves at the beach. Zuma should be called to account.