The ANC is panicking, grasping at straws
In light of Gauteng ANC Premier David Makhura’s recent comments about the DA’s Jozi mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba, the opposition has claimed that the ruling party is panicking.
On Monday Makhura said DA members had told him that they lacked confidence in Mashaba, the founder of the Black Like Me product range-turned DA politician.
“Makhura’s attack on Mashaba shows that the ANC in Gauteng is panicking about losing Johannesburg to the DA,” the opposition’s Gauteng leader John Moodey said.
“According to the ANC’s own research, the party’s support in Johannesburg has dropped to 37%. As one ANC leader said: ‘We looked at those figures and said what do we need to do … it is worrying’.”
Moodey was referring to a report by the Sunday Times claiming that an ANC internal report shows that the party’s support in Gauteng had dropped to 37%.
The same report shows the ruling party’s support sitting at below 50% in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
The ANC denied the claims.
“We remain confident… that we will not only retain our municipalities where we currently govern, but also reclaim Midvaal,” ANC Gauteng spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said.
Makhura said that the DA members told him it would be hard for the opposition to win Johannesburg in the upcoming elections as the ANC’s mayor Parks Tau is ‘doing such a good job’.
He added that some DA members told him Mashaba couldn’t run the DA caucus in Gauteng.
“The DA caucus is very difficult to run. You must ask Mmusi Maimane. It’s not the same as running Black Like Me. I think Mashaba’s biggest problem is not the ANC, it’s running a DA caucus,” he said.
Moodey dismissed Makhura’s comment as desperate.
“The ANC is full of career politicians who only know how to put themselves first. Herman Mashaba, on the other hand, is a self-made entrepreneur who knows how to run and manage a successful organisation,” he said.
