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Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the youth of Potchefstroom to come out in their numbers to ensure that the ANC does not lose its position in the upcoming by-elections in the Tlokwe municipality.
“The enemy wants to collapse the power of the ANC and remove your mayor. You must say, ‘never’ and not allow for that to happen.”
Addressing community members of Ikageng in the run-up to the 104th anniversary of the ANC on Friday, Ramaphosa urged that the young people especially should leave no stone unturned when it came to protecting the ANC in Tlokwe.
Late last year the highest court in the country – the Constitutional Court – ruled that the 2013 by-elections in Tlokwe were not free and fair because people who lived outside the contested wards were allowed to register and vote.
“We must campaign like mad. We must campaign day and night,” a fervent Ramaphosa continued.
He and fellow national executive committee member, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, had spent Tuesday walking around Potchefstroom engaging with residents and finding out what they needed from the ANC government.
The deputy president also touched on renewed racial tensions in the country – sparked by a Facebook post by a woman who compared black people with monkeys. He said that they were also made aware that they had support in unexpected places in Potchefstroom, and that included white people as well.
“Some of them came and whispered that they want the ‘ANC to be strong, we want the ANC to win. It is only the ANC that can run this country.’ White people were saying that.
“Therefore we have a big responsibility and that responsibility is on the shoulders of young people.”
