More cars? Cold front can’t stop ANC’s hot pursuit of Limpopo votes

Churches and homes of traditional leaders are the latest venues for the Limpopo ANC’s aggressive plan to woo voters ahead of the 2024 elections.

The party had spent the better part of this and last week parading a brand-new fleet of six bakkies and one truck – costing over R1.5 million.

The ANC said the new fleet was bought specifically to compliment the ANC’s elections machinery in Limpopo and to ensure visibility of its members in the province’s five regions.

This brings to 16 the vehicles to be used by the Limpopo ANC at Frans Mohlala House provincial offices in Polokwane.

The party’s provincial leadership said Sekhukhune and Peter Mokaba regions had followed in the purchase of the vehicles and that others must do likewise.

“We are just pleading with the three remaining regions – Norman Mashabane, Vhembe and Waterberg – to do the same and fast,” said provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe.

The party said it aimed to bag more support from every street, every house and every community, including the houses of traditional and religious leaders, for its voter registration programme.

“We will go all out this time to ensure we win this election. We are also pleased with the progress relating to the re-establishment of electioneering structures and the work done by the province on a daily basis,” said Madadzhe.

This includes the implementation of the Letsema programme and visits to churches and traditional leadership.”

According to official party audits outcomes conducted during the run-up to the 2021 municipal elections, Limpopo remained at number two after KwaZulu-Natal, followed by the Eastern Cape, in terms of membership.

According to its last audit, in 2019, Limpopo was in a good position to win more members – provided it sticks to its renewal programme and continues to be in touch with communities.

A report compiled by former provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane ahead of the last ANC provincial elective conference showed that the Vhembe region had grown substantially from 25 729 members in 2018 to 33 710, while Norman Mashabane, the biggest ANC region in the province, had 31 401 members.

The Sekhukhune region, which is home to the ANC provincial chair, premier Stan Mathabatha, was the only region to see a decline from 21 599 to 19 616.

Party spokesperson Jimmy Machaka said the party encouraged all its branches to go back to basics and be the first to report on issues of service delivery, identify the needy and to connect them with relevant departments.