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Johannesburg — President Jacob Zuma vowed on Wednesday that the ANC will rule “forever” as the country gears up for elections expected within months, according to reports.
“We will continue to run this government forever and ever. Whether they [detractors] like it or not,” Zuma was quoted as telling ANC supporters in Zulu, one of the local languages.
He was speaking during an impromptu door-to-door campaign in Mbombela, where the party will today launch its election manifesto and kick off the polls campaign.
He urged his supporters to vote in numbers to ensure that the ANC garners 90 percent of votes in the province, already a stronghold.
Observers predict a fall in nationwide support for the ANC this year, to around 60 percent or less.
Repeated corruption scandals, increasing crime levels, poverty, high unemployment levels and internal bickering are hurting the ANC’s popularity.
The National Union of Metalworkers decided last month to ditch the ANC and will not campaign for it nor support it financially in the upcoming polls.
But the ANC leader scoffed at suggestions that support for his party is waning.
“They are dreaming while they are awake. We are going to hammer them,” Zuma was quoted as saying by the City Press. “We are stronger than before”.
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu confirmed to AFP that Zuma had been quoted correctly. The president’s statement infuriated the opposition which accused him of using intimidating tactics. — AFP
Online Reporter