Cape Town –The ANC’s deputy president, David Mabuza, will lead the party’s election campaign in Limpopo, with the DA launching its manifesto on Saturday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign will continue on Sunday in Tembisa ahead of the ruling party’s manifesto launch in Tshwane on Monday.
The parties contesting the local government elections are intensifying their campaign drives after the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) conducted the voter registration weekend.
Mabuza’s campaign in the Peter Mokaba region in Limpopo today and tomorrow also comes in the wake of the ANC meeting the IEC’s deadline to field all candidates to contest the elections.
This was after the ruling party had failed to submit the lists for candidates in some of the municipalities.
The DA’s bid in the Constitutional Court to stop the IEC from re-opening the registration process failed.
Mabuza is not the only ANC leader campaigning this weekend, as national chairperson Gwede Mantashe will be in the Eastern Cape.
DA leader John Steenhuisen will lead the official opposition in the launch of their manifesto today.
The DA manifesto launch will be virtual, after Cope launched their manifesto in Kempton Park yesterday, and Action SA early this week.
The EFF will launch its manifesto in Gandhi Square in central Johannesburg on Sunday.
The ATM also launched their manifesto this week in the Eastern Cape, and the IFP will do so in Durban at the end of September.
Steenhuisen will be joined by other leaders of the DA when they launch the manifesto with the party trying to push to retain Tshwane and Cape Town.
But the ANC has said it wants to wrestle Tshwane from the DA.
But the City of Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni are also being targeted by the major political parties.
Local government had seen coalitions in 2016 with the ANC losing control of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay metro.
But the ANC has since regained control of Johannesburg after Herman Mashaba quit in 2019 as DA mayor to form his own political party, ActionSA.
Political Bureau