In the Nelson Mandela metro, you never know when you wake up who will be mayor.
So said ANC national executive committee member Zizi Kodwa on Friday during a drive to encourage Kwazakhele residents to register to vote this weekend.
There will be a by-election in Nelson Mandela Bay’s ward 20 on September 18.
Kodwa encouraged the ANC volunteers to choose a popular ward councillor candidate.
He was accompanied by ANC council chief whip Bicks Ndoni, newly appointed regional task team co-ordinator Luyolo Nqakula and provincial executive committee member Fikile Desi.
During door-to-door visits in the area, residents used the opportunity to speak about the plight in the ward, from unemployment to water and sewage spills and illegal dumping.
Referring to the August 2016 municipal elections which saw the ANC lose control of the municipality, Kodwa said: “People in 2016 ran away from us because they didn’t trust us. They said that the organisation was not the same and stayed at home and didn’t go out and vote, and it cost us the metro.
“What we said as the NEC was that we should not repeat the mistakes of 2016. One of those complaints was that we gave them councillors they did not know, were not familiar with and who did not go around the community.
“As volunteers, you must never repeat that mistake. We must choose someone who will represent everyone, someone who is loved by residents of ward 20, not loved just by the ANC because the ANC is not the majority,” Kodwa said.
'You will never know who will be mayor' - ANC's Zizi Kodwa
Image: Nomazima Nkosi
In the Nelson Mandela metro, you never know when you wake up who will be mayor.
So said ANC national executive committee member Zizi Kodwa on Friday during a drive to encourage Kwazakhele residents to register to vote this weekend.
There will be a by-election in Nelson Mandela Bay’s ward 20 on September 18.
Kodwa encouraged the ANC volunteers to choose a popular ward councillor candidate.
He was accompanied by ANC council chief whip Bicks Ndoni, newly appointed regional task team co-ordinator Luyolo Nqakula and provincial executive committee member Fikile Desi.
During door-to-door visits in the area, residents used the opportunity to speak about the plight in the ward, from unemployment to water and sewage spills and illegal dumping.
Referring to the August 2016 municipal elections which saw the ANC lose control of the municipality, Kodwa said: “People in 2016 ran away from us because they didn’t trust us. They said that the organisation was not the same and stayed at home and didn’t go out and vote, and it cost us the metro.
“What we said as the NEC was that we should not repeat the mistakes of 2016. One of those complaints was that we gave them councillors they did not know, were not familiar with and who did not go around the community.
“As volunteers, you must never repeat that mistake. We must choose someone who will represent everyone, someone who is loved by residents of ward 20, not loved just by the ANC because the ANC is not the majority,” Kodwa said.
He said elections were about voter turnout and numbers. “The ward has 8,000 registered voters but the ANC branch has just over 100.
“We’re held at ransom by just one seat in the council and we’re unable to make any decisions because we don’t have the majority. What we need to do is go and win love back.”
The EFF also campaigned on Friday, setting up a tent in a park in the area called Kwandokwenza.
EFF regional secretary Hector Peter along with councillor Zilindile Vena attracted residents by playing popular house music and showing off their dance moves while posting a prominent EFF poster that read: “Our land and jobs now”.
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