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Election season is well and truly underway, as demonstrated on Thursday when Richards Bay resident Sibonelo Ngubane told ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe that he would only give the ANC his vote if he received money for it.
Mantashe and other ANC "big guns" are in KwaZulu-Natal this week to gather votes for the ruling party.
Speaking to Ngubane, Mantashe said:
Ngubane initially laughed off the chairperson’s suggestion. “I could promise you my vote, but only I will know what my vote will be,” he said.
"We are here to ensure that your secret vote goes to the ANC. That’s why we are here," Mantashe added as one of the ANC members handed Ngubane a pamphlet.
Taking the pamphlet with ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s face, Ngubane said, “Well, give me money then.”
“We can only give you a shirt,” a man part of Mantashe’s entourage replied.
Ngubane insisted:
Taking things to another level, Ngubane went on to ask for a tender. “I want to live the high life; I want to be like you,” he said as he made gesture of having fat belly.
Mantashe asked, “What can you do?”
Ngubane answered, “I can cut grass, supply things, whatever.”
The ANC, in an effort to keep control of the province, has sent every top official to campaign in the province for the entire week.
READ: ANC brings out big guns to campaign, particularly in KZN
Earlier in the day, on the campaign trail, Mantashe said they were in the area to remind people to vote for the ANC.
“We are inconsistent, we are struggling, but we remain on the right track.”
Mantashe said:
One resident engaging with Mantashe said that they just need to deal with the corruption in the party.
“The ANC is a good organisation. But some people come in with bad intentions. That’s what a living organisation is all about,” Mantashe commented on the issue.
The ANC’s first deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane, participated in a special prayer day in the Harry Gwala region in the province.
READ: 'We do not campaign to de-campaign other political parties but to unite the ANC' -Tokyo Sexwale
Speaking at the event, Mokonyane went off script. “I have speaking notes from the ANC, but the message is not that different from what is being preached during this service,” Mokonyane said.
“It is a message of unity. We are united as a people, as South Africans. It started in 1994 when black people, white people, poor people, rich people, young and old stood in one queue to vote. We must thank God for that because some parts of the world still don’t have the right to vote.”
Mokonyane said:
"All [national executive committee] members are in [KwaZulu-Natal], the intention of our campaign is informed by research which tells us that, if the ANC can focus on its voting districts and then push its people to go out and vote, the ANC will receive about 2.2 million, only in the strong [voting districts], and then with the rest - we will get over 2.5 million," ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele told News24.
