ANC and DA hold rallies 500m apart
MSOBOMVU township outside Butterworth was a hive of political activity at the weekend with the ANC and DA hosting rallies within 500m of each other.
Blue T-shirts dominated the landscape at a jam-packed Msobomvu Community Hall, where about 1 000 DA supporters were addressed by the party’s national leader Mmusi Maimane and provincial leader Athol Trollip.
And not far away, at Msobomvu stadium, more than 5 000 ANC supporters gathered for the Amathole district’s regional launch of their 2016 local election volunteers campaign.
The ANC launch was addressed by Water and Sanitation Minister and the party’s national elections convener, Nomvula Mokonyane, followed by rural development MEC and ANC provincial elections coordinator, Mlibo Qoboshiyane and Amathole’s acting chairwoman, Nomasikizi Konza.
Police maintained a strong presence in the town.
This was Maimane’s second visit to the region in as many months.
He previously addressed a party rally in Mdantsane and Port Elizabeth two months ago and attended a speaking engagement in Butterworth, before proceeding to Comfimvaba and Queenstown on Saturday.
Maimane and Trollip, the DA mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro , addressed a mass rally at the Gelvandale Stadium in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas yesterday.
Trollip presented the party’s plan for a safe metro following recent gang violence which has claimed a number of lives in the Bay metro.
In Butterworth on
Saturday, Maimane told the crowd that the ANC had abandoned the people of South Africa and only cared about those who were close to it.
He said the dream of a united South Africa was being hampered by those in power, who wanted to sideline everyone else in the development of the country.
At Msobomvu stadium, Mokonyane told the crowd that the only enemy the ruling party had was within itself.
She said in order to make inroads in the next year’s local government elections, members needed to stop internal faction fighting.
“If we are to make inroads in the upcoming elections, we should desist from internal infighting and creating division within the party in the buildup to 2016.”
“Comrades in the party need to do away with slates and factional infighting if we are to build a united and successful ANC,” she added.
“We need to get back to basics and defend the unity, integrity and principles of our organisation,” Mokonyane said.
She said ANC branches needed to get out of people’s pockets and be in the party’s pocket.
Mokonyane said upcoming local government elections would not be easy due to infighting within ANC structures. She urged the Amathole party volunteers to assist in rebuilding the party’s brand, saying they were the face of the organisation and needed to make sure the ANC regained its rightful place in the hearts of South African citizens.
Amathole is the first region in the country to have launched its volunteers campaign, with many others expected to follow in the build-up to next year’s elections. —