The ANC and the EFF both put their hearts into wooing women voters at their final rallies on Sunday.
Thousands of voters gathered at various stadiums across the country over the weekend to support their chosen parties ahead of Wednesday’s national and provincial elections.
More than 60,000 ANC supporters gathered at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday while EFF supporters filled the Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The DA and UDM held their final rallies on Saturday, also in Gauteng, a key province in this election.
PODCAST | All hail Kingmaker Malema!
SUBSCRIBE: iono.fm | Pocket Casts | Player.fm | Apple Podcasts
At the ANC’s Siyanqoba rally, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ANC had listened to the voices of women‚ whom he described as pillars of communities‚ families and social institutions. “Women bear the brunt of poverty and face discrimination in the workplace. They are subjected to the most brutal gender-based violence and femicide.”However‚ he said the ANC was recommitting the creation of a truly non-sexist SA‚ free of patriarchal attitudes that continued to deny women and girls their dignity and rights.“Working with the broader women and gender movement‚ we will continue to take practical steps to advance women’s emancipation.”He added that the ANC’s commitment to creating equal opportunities for the women of SA was evident in the party’s candidate lists for provincial legislatures and parliament. “That is why 53% of the ANC’s candidates in this election are women.”
Ramaphosa lamented the level of gender-based violence and said government intended to eradicate it.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Stadium in Soweto was a sea of red as EFF supporters gathered to hear their president‚ Julius Malema, at the party’s final rally dubbed “Tshela Thupa”.
The EFF is expected to be a key player in this election‚ with different polls placing their possible support between 10% and 13%. Malema said that in the EFF, women were being given freedom to lead. “Under [an] EFF government‚ women will own more than 50% of the land because they are the majority‚” said Malema. “Women are going to be in charge; here in the EFF they are in charge. Women must lead us because they have always been better leaders.
“Let us compare Mama Winnie [Madikizela-Mandela] and Jacob Zuma. Zuma always says he was in the struggle hence he didn’t go to school‚ but Mama was in prison‚ too‚ but she went to school.
“In fact‚ Zuma has done a lot of horrible things. But Zuma became a president for 10 years because he is a man.
“If there was a woman who did the things that Zuma did‚ they would not have even become additional members of the ANC NEC‚” he said.
He gave a moving tribute to his late grandmother‚ Sarah Malema, who raised him after his mother died in his childhood. His grandmother meant everything to him, he said, adding she would have wanted him to address the rally despite her death just a day earlier.
He also repeated his claim that Ramaphosa had offered him and his deputy‚ Floyd Shivambu‚ cabinet positions.
Although the presidency denied Malema’s initial claim that he made on Thursday‚ Malema is sticking to his guns.He dared Ramaphosa to dispute the claim‚ threatening that “he will know who I am”.“I never said ‘the presidency’‚ I said ‘Ramaphosa’. Let him answer and lie; he will know who I am‚” said Malema.“Why would I go around saying Ramaphosa offered us cabinet posts when he has not done so?”Meanwhile, DA leader Mmusi Maimane on Saturday lashed out at Ramaphosa, saying he had been there when South Africa was looted.Addressing the DA’s “Phetogo” final election rally in his neighbourhood of Dobsonville‚ Soweto, Maimane said he was angry.“I am angry that the very people who were elected to lead us‚ ended up stealing from us.“And what’s most offensive is that they stole from the poor‚” said Maimane.“And now they’ve elected a leader who wants you to believe he has just arrived in time to save us. But he was there all along.”He said Ramaphosa was “shocked at everything he sees”.Maimane said Ramaphosa had been there‚ as deputy president‚ when the state was looted. “He was there when Zuma and the Guptas were protected in vote after vote after vote.“His name is recorded in these votes as one of those who betrayed us.”He said Ramaphosa had also failed to take action against those in his party responsible for the Esidimeni deaths.“This is a man who called on the police to take action against mineworkers striking for a living wage. The next day, 34 of them were killed‚” said Maimane.“Cyril Ramaphosa is no saviour. He is part of the ANC that caused so much despair and suffering these past 25 years.“And now they want another five years to loot.”At the Khutsong Stadium in Carletonville, Gauteng, a handful of UDM supporters came to hear leader Bantu Holomisa attack the ANC, saying a vote for the ruling party was a vote for another five years of corruption. – TimesLIVE..