South Africa’s two top rival parties both turned to the Israelites’ flight from Egypt in their campaign rhetoric over the weekend.
In DA national leader Mmusi Maimane’s mind he is Moses’ successor Joshua, who brought the Israelites to the promised land of Canaan after Moses led them out of Egypt but left them lost in the desert for 40 years.
For ANC provincial chair Oscar Mabuyane the wandering Israelites were ruling party supporters, experiencing the “challenges” of the desert before the milk and honey which only an ANC vote could provide.
The DA held a provincial launch for its manifesto at Zalu Sports Grounds in Lusikisiki on Saturday, while Mabuyane was on the campaign trail in Machibini on Sunday.
Maimane said Nelson Mandela began the work by liberating South Africans from apartheid, but now the DA was the only party able to lead the new South Africa.
“What was begun by Nelson Mandela in 1994 can only be completed by the DA. The DA is the only party that is for all South Africans, all races and all religious beliefs,” Maimane said.
He said the revolution to liberate South Africans began in the Eastern Cape and the people of the province would be instrumental in turning things around for the country.
“Change is coming and it will come when the DA is in power. Give us just five years to prove ourselves and you will see. Look what the DA has done in the Western Cape, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay,” he said.
Meanwhile on Sunday Mabuyane, who is also the province’s finance MEC, called on the members of the Machibini Fransbury Methodist circuit in Komani to vote for the ANC on May 8 to ensure a “continuous better life for all”.
“We call on the people of this province to come and build this province with us. Just like the children of Israel, the ANC experiences challenges from time to time and all these challenges are being addressed,” said Mabuyane...