ANC, EFF pull out all the stops in battle for Northern Cape

The underresourced Joe Morolong municipal stronghold is a hotbed of political contention as both parties host campaign rallies to gain the lion’s share of voters

A total of 29 political parties have registered to contest the provincial and national elections in the Northern Cape.

Having turned all its organisational structures into election teams, beefed up by government officials and about 2 000 volunteers on the ground, the ANC in the province is bracing itself for an “overwhelming victory”.

But it will not be business as usual, as the DA is poised to loosen the governing party’s grip in what looks like a David versus Goliath election battle.

The opposition party is alleging corruption on the part of a senior ANC official in the health department, claiming it has evidence of cash slips to prove it.

The EFF is on an ambitious campaign drive in the province and predicts that it will score no less than 70 000 votes in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality alone – a massive rural area that remains underdeveloped.

It consists of towns such as Kuruman, Kathu, Batlharos, Laxey and Churchill.

The three major parties – the ANC, DA and EFF – have unleashed their massive electioneering resources in this rural region, previously the stronghold of the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP), founded by former Bophuthatswana leader Lucas Mangope.

This underresourced area was incorporated into the Northern Cape from the North West after the dawn of democracy.

CRYING FOUL DA provincial leader Andrew Louw shows bank slips totalling R24 000, alleging corrupt activity by a health department official

The Freedom Front Plus election slogan, “Slaan Terug” (hit back), is visible on posters in and around Kuruman’s central business district, signifying the race and class disparities in the area.

Although the forthcoming elections are for national and provincial office bearers, anger over municipal service delivery issues dominates.

Despite the existence of 26 iron ore and manganese mines in the John Taolo Gaetsewe region, locals live below the breadline.

Residents have criticised the mines for failing to implement upliftment plans that have been mooted for years.

As a result, the surrounding communities remain poor and in need of basic services.

About 200km away in Kimberley, De Beers has closed all its diamond mining operations, leaving only Ekapa Mining and Petra Diamonds – which the mining giant sold a few years back – to continue mining crumbs until 2025.

Poverty levels stand at 53%. Out of 100 matriculants who leave school, only 37 find employment in the province.

It is believed that the province has no official growth plan. Officials merely state that these are under review.

Residents told City Press that they believed the ruling elite had no capacity to offer solutions.

An EFF supporter, who wished not to be named, spoke about the lack of political will to hold mines accountable for having disposed of contaminated water in the area.

His sentiments were echoed by 19-year-old Masego Serealo, a resident of Bankhara Bodulong who has not registered as she sees no point in voting.

“Mines entice workers with overtime pay, cash vouchers and other benefits to discourage them from going to vote. Political parties that are contesting elections won’t put bread on the table,” she said.

Mines are employing skilled personnel such as health and safety officers, and geologists from as far off as Gauteng and Limpopo.

City Press understands that this is because South32 Academy – a local division of South32, a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Australia – is based in those areas but not in the province.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ANC officials take the party’s campaign message to Barkly West

The EFF and ANC have taken their campaigns to the rural areas.

In 2014, the biggest municipality in the John Taolo Gaetsewe region, Joe Morolong, saw 33 900 voters out of 50 928 voting.

In Ga-Segonyana municipality, 35 156 out of 47 044 residents voted that year; while in Gamagara 17 088 out of 20 390 residents voted.

The ANC’s Thobeka Mthintelwa said a series of door-to-door campaigns, blitzes and church activities were lined up ahead of the party’s regional launch in Laxey on Sunday.

She added that door-to-door activities were also being planned in Batlharos and in Pepsi, a neighbouring area 10km from Laxey, where ANC provincial and national leaders were expected to help “fill Laxey stadium”.

The party deployed its national chairperson, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, to the Joe Morolong hotbed last week.

Mercy Sauls from Upington said she expected that whoever campaigned would have to voice their recognition of the Khoisan people of the Northern Cape.

During a recent outreach programme in Kimberley, President Cyril Ramaphosa conceded that the Khoisan had raised complex issues which would take time to resolve.

Last Friday, ANC regional secretary Peace Leserwane was in the municipality of Gamagara, in Kathu, leading volunteers ahead of the manifesto launch in Laxey.

Almost 50% of the total Northern Cape vote will come from the John Taolo Gaetsewe region.

According to EFF spokesperson Obakeng Lechuti, the EFF has fielded commander-in-chief Julius Malema to speak at its election rally, taking place in Maphinki, which is also part of the John Taolo Gaetsewe region.

Lechuti denied that the rally was a deliberate strategy to pit the party against the ANC.

“People in Joe Morolong and Maphinki in particular have been neglected. The area is rural and lacks infrastructure. The EFF is trying to correct this,” he said.

The EFF was actively targeting this region, he added, and went on to describe its list of public representatives as being balanced, like “zebra stripes”.

EFF MP Mmabatho Mokause, who hails from Kuruman, is number 24 on the party’s national candidate list

Seipati Bogosi (26) is a resident of Galeshewe, in the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality. Describing the ANC’s deployment policy as “a huge flop”, she called for an end to casualisation and jobs for pals.

“During the 2016 elections, my contract was not renewed by the provincial department of roads and public works simply because I stood as a candidate for the EFF in Kimberley,” she said.

Latoya Jackson (21) added: “The minimum requirement should be that those aged 18 to 35 must be employed.”

Saying she was on the ground volunteering for the party to counter the ANC’s “well-oiled election machinery”, Jackson added: “Many young people like me will volunteer and vote for the EFF.”

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