Picture: Mike Holmes
African National Congress (ANC) supporters slowly trickled into Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth ahead of their party’s local government manifesto launch on Saturday.
By 10:30 am‚ the yellow‚ red and green colours of the ANC‚ its women’s league and the South African Students Congress (SASCO) began to dominate the grandstands in the stadium.
Jumping up and down‚ ruling party supporters sang along to struggle songs and danced to the latest South African music like Shumaya and Akulalwa.
On Friday the party said it would fill the 46‚000-seater stadium with 100‚000 supporters‚ some of whom would be transported in from other provinces.
President Jacob Zuma will later launch the ANC’s manifesto‚ ahead of the local government elections on August 3.
ANC supporter Bulelani Mbata from Kwazakhele township said he was sure the stadium would fill up because buses were still coming in with people from the township.
“I’m here to hear the president’s manifesto speech‚ so I know if I go to my councillor with any complaints‚ I can use the manifesto to back up what I’m saying‚” he said.
Mr Mbata said he didn’t think the ANC would lose its supporters in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The party lost out on votes in the sixth biggest city in SA in the 2014 local government elections but is confident it will win them back.
“I’m not worried and it’s not going to happen. The ANC is the only party with policies we know‚” he said.
The party had effectively dealt with the Constitutional Court’s finding that Mr Zuma had violated his oath of office in the Nkandla matter‚ he said.
He said he didn’t have an opinion on whether the president should step down because that decision needed to be made by the party.
“The decision on whether zuma should step down or not should be up to the party not individuals. It’s a democracy … (the) majority rules‚” said Mr Mbata.
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