African Union boss Dlamini-Zuma joins ANC poll campaigns

African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma arriving for the second working session of the European Union - Africa Summit on Migration at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in La Valletta last year. South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has deployed Dr Dlamini-Zuma to campaign for the local government elections in her home province, KwaZulu Natal. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday took his campaign to markets around Warwick Junction in Durban and was scheduled to go to Pietermaritzburg Market Square taxi rank on Wednesday.
  • Dr Dlamini-Zuma, who was recently tasked to hold fort at the AU for another six months, and Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa also campaigned in KwaZulu Natal on Tuesday.
  • Mr Ramaphosa was also scheduled to conduct a door-to-door campaign in Ward 96 at Thabo Mbeki Informal Settlement late on Tuesday.

PRETORIA

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has deployed the AU Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to campaign for the local government elections in her home province, KwaZulu Natal. The municipality elections are set for August 3.

President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday took his campaign to markets around Warwick Junction in Durban and was scheduled to go to Pietermaritzburg Market Square taxi rank on Wednesday.

Dr Dlamini-Zuma, who was recently tasked to hold fort at the AU for another six months, and Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa also campaigned in KwaZulu Natal on Tuesday.

The AU chairperson campaigned in Ntuzuma, a town in eThekwini in her home province, where she has a strong support base.

ANC deputy president Ramaphosa‚ who was in KwaZulu-Natal last week‚ was on Tuesday tasked to phone undecided potential voters from a party call centre in Randburg‚ Johannesburg.

DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN

Mr Ramaphosa was also scheduled to conduct a door-to-door campaign in Ward 96 at Thabo Mbeki Informal Settlement late on Tuesday.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has said South Africans should honour former President Nelson Mandela’s dream of a non-racial country by voting for his party.

“I think if you were to reflect on the DA today‚ you can’t even begin to sustain the argument to say the DA is a white party. Nelson Mandela fought for black and white domination and therefore our project as the DA is to build South Africans who come from different political backgrounds‚ different races, standing together to say ‘we are better together and we must address historical legacies’,” said Mr Maimane.

A recent poll favoured DA to win the country’s three biggest metros.

The most recent weekly poll released by eNCA, and conducted by Ipsos, showed DA leading the ANC and the the Economic Freedom Fighters in three highly contested metros.