Black on White: The ANC can regain Gauteng

We recently spoke about the possibility of the Democratic Alliance winning Gauteng in 2014. However, although that is a strong possibility, we have to keep in mind that the African National Congress still enjoys an overwhelming support. Although their supporters will keep cheering the party forward, they also recognise the weakness in their leadership.

Since 2009, Jacob Zuma’s presidency has been under a lot of criticism, from spending over R200-million on his private home to the desperate state of youth unemployment, his term as president has been marred with corruption. In his defence, he has shown some interest in addressing the challenges his administration and country continues to face. He has set targets for government to achieve and most recently, relieved former Minister of Communication Dina Pule from her post.

Although other parties have emerged recently, the African National Congress (ANC) remains a party of choice for the majority of South Africans. Although their government has proved to be flawed over the past couple of years, it will take some doing to replace them as the ruling party in South Africa’s economic hub.

Young people who are believed to be ‘open to new ideas’ find themselves to be siding with the ruling party. They are reluctant to support any other party other than the ANC, mainly because they are not really ‘sold’ to opposition’s ideas.

The ANC can be blamed for a lot of things; however, their political intelligence is one of the reasons they are likely to keep the province. The party is able to gain popularity at the right times, they know how to manipulate the situation to their benefit.

ANC Chairperson in Gauteng, Paul Mashatile seems to be unconcerned about the possibility of the DA winning Gauteng in 2014. If anything, he says the ANC is aiming for a 70% victory in Gauteng. A bit optimistic in my view, considering a lot of ANC supporters have moved over to other parties. To get that kind of support, the party will need more than food parcels and road markings to win by that margin.

Next year’s elections will see either the DA or ANC win Gauteng. It is hard to say who will win because, no one knows if the born frees will vote, and if they do, we don’t know who they will vote for.

What is evident though is that the ruling party has a head start. They know the province best, and are able to address issues at the right times, however, the DA’s launch of their youth employment programme does put a spanner in the works as well, only time will tell who will win Gauteng in 2014.