ANC volunteers primed for doorstep wrangling

● ANC election volunteers will be armed with answers to questions about load-shedding, jobs, the economy, illegal immigrants and poverty if they knock on your door.

The party’s ground troops have been handed a manual that gives them instructions on how to convince even the most hostile of voters to give the governing party another chance.

The 76-page manual requires the volunteers to first list the achievements of the ANC-led government since 1994. It compares a pre-1994 South Africa to that of today in specific areas.

On load-shedding, expect the ANC campaigners to detail an ANC government plan to end blackouts by the end of this year.

The volunteers have been trained to say the ANC will:

Fix Eskom;

● Enable private investment in new generation capacity;

● Accelerate procurement of new capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage;

● Unleash investment in rooftop solar PV for businesses and households; and

● Transform the electricity sector to achieve energy security.

The volunteers will also be tasked with convincing South Africans that the ANC is the only party that deserves their vote.

“In our first 30 years in government we have come very far in undoing the damage of apartheid. We moved fast and achieved a lot. We worked hard to change our country, build our economy, care for the poor, develop our people and deliver the services you need,” the training manual reads.

“You should vote for the party that has always put poor people first, the party that has brought development, progress, human rights and freedom.

“The party built and upgraded more than 4-million houses and created free education, school feeding, free health care and social grants for all who need it. The ANC has experienced and good leaders. We have learnt from our mistakes and successes and are working hard to develop our people and country to be the best it can be,” they must say.

The ANC volunteers will tell potential voters that the ANC-led government has upheld human rights, ensuring that every citizen is allowed to participate in the elections, unlike the 13% allowed before 1994.

“We are praised as a model democracy with free and fair elections, and our leaders and sports teams are welcomed worldwide,” the manual says.

The volunteers will also tell voters that the country has a duty to protect migrants who come to South Africa to look for jobs, or those seeking refuge from war-torn countries. “In most countries, migrants do not cause job losses for locals. They come with skills that help economic development; they work hard and start small businesses. Only 3% of our population are migrants.

“Unfortunately, our high unemployment rate causes locals to see migrants as direct competition for jobs, houses and services,” the manual says.

“We cannot have open and unregulated borders without causing problems. We must tighten our borders so that people cannot come illegally and so that we know who is here. Those who run businesses and employ people should do so within the laws and regulations of South Africa.

“When people come to commit crimes or sell drugs, we need to use the law to deal with them in the same way we deal with all criminals. Those who undermine the law will be arrested and/or deported.”

The volunteers will explain that the neighbouring countries the migrants come from provided shelter for freedom fighters who were exiled.

The manual says a policy is being developed to “introduce quotas on the number of documented foreign nationals that can be employed in major economic sectors such as agriculture, construction, hospitality and tourism. It also seeks to reserve certain job categories for South Africans.”

Companies will have to provide proof that they need to hire a foreign national with critical skills because they could not find a local with the same skills, it adds.

The volunteers will also say the ANC-led government provides grants to more than 25-million people, while just 2.8-million received grants before 1994; that 95% have access to electricity and toilets and 92% have access to safe water.

Social grants will remain in place until the government manages to lift the half of the population that still lives below the poverty line out of poverty, the manual says.

“Until we get there, we must ensure that poor and vulnerable families have access to social grants and basic services to provide for their families’ basic needs. Pensioners, children and disabled people are special targets of ANC government support ...

“These grants and basic services are meant to break the cycle of poverty by ensuring that people can meet their most basic needs like food, shelter, water, sanitation, health care and education.”

The door-to-door campaign will be coupled with the ANC’s strategy to counter the manifestos of opposition parties.

You should vote for the party that has always put poor people first, the party that has brought development