Huge crowd expected for ANC bash
The ANC said it was expecting 150000 people at its much-anticipated 107th anniversary celebrations and elections manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida stadium tomorrow.
The event will wrap up its weeklong charm offensive in KwaZulu-Natal. Since Monday, the party’s top brass have been criss-crossing the province in a bid to reiterate its message of unity and to convince voters to rally behind the party in the upcoming elections in May, where the ANC is set to have the toughest electoral contest since the dawn of democracy.
This included visits to churches and the homes of the founding leaders of the party in the province. The party’s acting national spokesperson, Dakota Legoete, said it has done its best to woo supporters to attend its biggest annual event.
“We would never say it is enough. We still want to drum up a lot of support, because our intention is not only for the event but to deliver an electoral victory to the ANC in the elections. We still have to humble ourselves to the voters,” Legoete said.
While Legoete did not immediately have the logistical details of how the party’s faithful would get to the event, he said the stadium would be packed.
“We are expecting more than 150000 people. They will fill up the stadium, and two overflows,” Legoete said.
With the party still recovering from the divisions of its 2017 national conference where former president Jacob Zuma stepped down, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been at pains to tell ANC supporters that there is no bad blood between himself and his predecessor.
KZN had the most members who were opposed to Ramaphosa’s presidency, a faction that was sympathetic to Zuma.
Addressing ANC supporters during the rally to mark the party’s 107th birthday on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said it was untrue that there was a rift between him and Zuma, adding that their political working relationship had spanned almost two decades.
“We have long worked together,” Ramaphosa said. He credited Zuma for hand picking him to be his deputy before he was installed as his successor, adding that he would continue to seek his counsel in addressing the party’s challenges.
“He (Zuma) served as president for five years, and after that he said come and work with me and I became his deputy. After that I was elected to become the president. He is here now. He is a former president that I am going to use as the president of the ANC for various tasks,” Ramaphosa said.
Meanwhile, several road closures have been put in place to ensure the safety of people attending the event.