Demonising Cape Town just a divisive ANC election tactic

THE local government elections are more than a year away, yet the ANC is already in campaign mode. Considering the results of the last general elections — in which the ruling party’s support dropped significantly in most metropolitan areas — it is perhaps understandable why the party would seek to start the race so early.

In previously “safe” constituencies such as the Nelson Mandela metro — which includes Port Elizabeth — Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, the ANC saw its electoral support plummet to just above 50%. This has bolstered opposition parties — especially the DA — in their campaign to win more municipalities away from the ANC in 2016 as part of a long-term strategy of eventually removing the ANC from power.

The ANC is clearly frightened by this and the actions and utterances of some of its most senior leaders this past week have exposed just how desperate it is to hold on to the metros it runs.

Aware that one of the topical issues in next year’s local elections would be a comparison between the DA-run City of Cape Town and metros under the ANC, the ruling party sought to demonise the city and the Western Cape in the eyes of the public this week.

President Jacob Zuma, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte went out of their way this week to depict the province and the city as “racist”, with Duarte even promising to “liberate” its population from DA rule.

The Western Cape clearly still has a long way to go with regard to racial tolerance and integration, but so does most of South Africa.

The ANC, like any other party, has a right to exploit its opponents’ weaknesses to try to win votes, but it should not do so in a divisive manner.

The reckless statements made by its leaders about Cape Town being an “apartheid city” serve only to racially polarise the nation and send a terrible message that the ruling party accepts a democratic outcome only when it is in its own favour. Liberation, to the ANC, apparently means being governed by the party.

If Zuma and the ANC want to win back Cape Town and the Western Cape, they should convince voters by providing real evidence that shows that the metros it controls are better run than Cape Town is.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be hearing a lot about the Freedom Charter, which turns 60 in July. The preamble of the document declares “South Africa belongs to all who live in it”, yet the utterances of the party’s leaders suggest they believe those who have been duly elected to run Cape Town and the Western Cape are second-class citizens, just because they belong to a different political party.