AKA rubs shoulders with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

This is the year the ruling party can say celebrities went out in numbers to support them. In the past few weeks, celebrities have been posting pictures of themselves in ANC regalia, encouraging fans to vote for the party.

One of those celebrities who came out strongly supporting the ruling party is Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, who has been saying the ANC is the only party to vote for.

AKA’s support for the ruling party has surely been recognised by the party’s elite. Today he shared on Twitter that he was at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s house to accompany her to the voting station.

In a video Twitter user Moloto Mothapo posted, AKA is seen in Madikizela-Mandela’s living room, telling her accompanying her is a privilege. He then thanks her for encouraging words she had said to him and other people present.

Wits SRC president Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, in ANC regalia, was also there to accompany Madikizela-Mandela to her voting station.

The rapper has never shied away from showing his support for the ruling party. A few weeks back, he tweeted he would no longer be performing at opposition party events, comments that landed him in trouble with EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and Julius Malema.

Ndlozi responded to AKA, saying he had no problem with AKA’s political affiliation but felt that it was not right for him to choose sides because his music was not political and he should know he had fans in the EFF too. He then accused AKA of wanting to boycott EFF events, an accusation that AKA denied, saying all he said was that he would no longer perform at their events because he was an ANC member.

Ndlozi further told AKA to stay out of politics, a comment that did not sit well with Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula. In a series of tweets, Mbalula defended AKA, saying artists were not divorced from society and its realities. He said in fact, artists played an important role in the fight against apartheid.