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The ANC is first off the starting block in the race to lure voters its way when South Africans head to the polls next year.
Led by its leader and president of the republic Ntate Matamela, members of the glorious movement are out and about in the biting cold all decked out in black, green and gold, spilling out into the awkward apartheid spatial planning mess that is Tembisa.
Gauteng is a good start considering it is possibly the only province where ANC structures are intact, conferences are ready and the standing of the leadership is not in question.
The #ThumaMina campaign is being launched in the city of Ekurhuleni, chaired by the black sheep of the ANC in the province Mzwandile Masina.
He is the guy who did or didn’t say that he would resign if Ramaphosa emerged victorious at Nasrec.
Today they walk along beside each other all smiles and Masina gives the grand tour.
On one occasion the president points to Masina and tells residents he is there to serve them, but they are not sipping on the Kool-Aid, with some going as far as booing the mayor.
After what has become a trademark 5km walk before even the sun makes an appearance, Ramaphosa’s sleek German convoy snakes it’s way around Tswelopele Extension 8 where things go horribly off script.
Ever the charmer, Ramaphosa is sweet-talking residents, telling them that he will personally make a call to Eskom big wigs and make electrifying this informal settlement a priority.
As he speaks, thick suffocating smoke fills the cold air, interrupting his speech, which he is making atop a bakkie, microphone in hand, pleading for a love back. The smoke is coming from a shack that is on fire and residents rush to grab buckets and anything that holds water.
In no time at all, the flickering of blue lights can be seen as the VIP convoy prepares to whisk off the number one citizen.
The DA, which has been struggling with its self-made collapse of a house of cards, swoops in with a statement lamenting that Ramaphosa had turned his back on a burning shack, the title reading, “Ramaphosa turns his back on Tembisa fire: Abathumeki!”
Meanwhile a lot less action is going down about an hour away in Tsakane where deputy president David Mabuza is supposed to make an appearance alongside six national executive committee members.
What appears to be the main intersection in the area just about comes to a standstill as traffic officers redirect vehicles.
Fresh from an interview on Metro FM’s breakfast show, NEC member Malusi Gigaba shows up and begins an awkward walk next to Gauteng provincial executive committee member Ntombi Mekgwe.
They stop to greet a crowd of mostly young people on a street corner, who say they need help getting employment.
“At triple C there is an NYDA [National Youth Development Agency] office, you must go sign up there. Do you know that there is training there? The problem is that you won’t get any information sitting on street corners,” Mekgwe says.
Another youth says the NYDA office is too far from them and they can’t afford the fare.
“You saw this morning we were walking, another thing is that we want to encourage you not to be lazy. In our time there were no taxis, we would walk on foot to Tsakane and Thema.
“But you guys don’t walk and it is good exercise, it is a healthy lifestyle. Take a walk to triple C, it’s not far, register there and you will be good,” Mekgwe counters.
Another youth laments the fact that jobs require driver’s licences which he cannot afford; he asks that government consider a way to offer licensing for free.
“We will pass this on to bab’ Nzimande at transport. Another thing we tried to introduce was to assist school kids to get their learner’s before they get to matric so that you have your learner’s when you leave school. Other schools, because the fees are high there, there is a programme where you can actually get your learner’s as part of the curriculum,” Gigaba responds.
Moments later NEC member Senzo Mchunu shows up, his petite frame just about disappearing into a navy blue ANC-marked bomber jacket.
The three leaders are then introduced to a man who explains a challenge in the local taxi industry. The three speak in hushed tones with the man while other residents clamour for attention.
“Is that Gigaba?” one woman shouts from the back.
“Tell him I am coming to stay at his house, mine gets wet when it rains,” she shouts.
In Tsakane and Tembisa the day of activities ends with blurred lines as title deeds are handed out by ANC leaders at what looks to be government events.
At a rally in Tembisa, Ramaphosa revisits the shack fire, saying he has deployed resources there and that he has made sure the family who lost their home will have food and shelter for the evening.
The solution by local authorities was to rebuild a shiny zinc shack for the family.
