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ANC to ‘rope in’ veterans ahead for 2016 election

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Ahead of the provincial conference later this month, the ANC are ‘roping’ in several party veterans in a bid to win back support ahead of next year’s municipal elections, with the Western Cape seen as a prime target. The ruling party has witnessed its support base in the province gradually decline since 2006, and were officially unseated during the 2009 general elections. During the 2014 elections the party yielded only 29% of votes in the Western Cape, whilst also seeing a decline in support in Gauteng as well. But they are keen to pull out all stops in the way of wrestling control back from the DA.

The ANC has already announced the appointment of SAFA head, Danny Jordaan as mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. Amongst those mooted for a return to further bolster its ranks are former finance minister, Trevor Manuel and former deputy secretary general, Cheryl Carolus.

“In the Western Cape because they have consistently lost votes to the DA, I think there is an inward reflection by the ANC that they need to start looking at how they can turnaround the party ahead of the elections. The issue is whether doing it at this stage (roping in veterans) will work,” said political and communications advisor at Ethicore, Wisahl Jappie.

With such a short period before the election, she questioned whether a return of veterans and stalwarts could be enough to change public perception as a whole. She noted that the party had not lost support overnight, and likewise it was unlikely to regain that support back so quickly.

“It begs the question whether it will be enough to win the metro, or whether it will just be enough to help steadily increase its voter base ahead of the 2019 elections,” she explained.

Whilst many in the general public hold strong opinions with regards to the upper reaches of the political sphere, a concerning trend has been the lack of interaction with, or knowledge of who the councillors are within their respective areas. Jappie said this was partly the responsibility of the voter, but in equal part the councillor failing to make themselves visible outside of election times.

“I think it’s a bit of both. They (councillors) come out of the woods at this time to gain support. It is up to the voter to actually use them and test whether or not they are actually doing their job,” she added. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)


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