Ndumbeni is hunting ground for votes

KANYAMAZANE – As the election date was announced by the president Mr Jacob Zuma last Friday as May 7 this year, his very own party never wasted time, but headed for a popular tavern in this sprawling township, seeking for votes and urging the youth to go and register over the past weekend.-

The ANC visited Endumbeni Sports bar accompanied by among others, DJ Melody, Chrizozo, DJ S’fiso and Centenary hit makers Kaspero and Gamelihle, to encourage the youth to heed to the final call to register in order to vote in this year’s general elections provincial secretary of the party, Mr Lucky Ndinisa had this to say: “It is in the nature of the ANC to consult people, hence you will see public hearings from time to time. We have been 20 years in government and consultations are still a norm and a relatively effective way of mass mobilisation because they give us an opportunity to listen to the frustrations of our people and also direct them to the necessary resources. I must say that the consistency shown by premier Mr David Mabuza has made things lighter at this critical stage of our campaigns because he has been going to the people. His cabinet has been going to the people and as ANC, we have been going to the people and trust me, this is a strategy that we plan to keep for life. After all, it is this ANC-led government that came up with the Batho Pele principles, propelling us to consult our people and these roadshows are part of our consultations, especially because we are in the final open weekend of registration,” he said. –

Kaspero and Gamelihle took to the stage, crowds drew closer and seemed to be enjoying their performance. Most of them wore ANC T-shirts and the controversial red berets, which caused a media stir during president Zuma’s recent visit to KaNyamazane, with EFF CIC, Julius Malema labelling the ANC as “lacking creativity and thieves” by stealing their red beret concept. –

One of the young people who preferred to remain anonymous said: “I just came here to drink as usual and I was told that the ANC is around, so I stayed. I love the ANC and I am on standby waiting for May 7 to prove my love for it. I am not 100 per cent happy, but I also know that there is no better party than this one.”-

In his article titled, “Young voter mobilization tactics,” author Donald Green argues that personalised and interactive contact by political parties or election candidates is one of the most effective ways of talking the youth into voting and this seemed to have worked for the United States.