An internal canvassing report leak indicates the ANC is trailing in its campaign efforts to secure the Western Cape for the upcoming elections.
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To attract voters, the ANC sent key figures to the province over the weekend.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane arrived to strengthen the campaign in the Western Cape, joined by Eastern Cape ANC Secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi, who is campaigning in the region for the second time this month.
They travelled across the province, focusing on predominantly black and coloured areas, as well as Khoi and San communities. Their visits included Khayelitsha, the West Coast, Southern Cape towns such as George and Knysna, and the Overberg region.
However, the internal ANC report reveals consistently low targets for its door-to-door operations.
The report shows that only 26.4% of canvassing targets have been met across the Western Cape. In Mitchells Plain and the southern suburbs, the ANC has met only 3% of its targets; Atlantis and Milnerton have reached 7.5%; and Elsies River and Bonteheuwel are at 7.8%.
Other regions report slightly better numbers: 30% in the Central Karoo, 27.5% in the Boland, and 26.4% on the West Coast.
Cameron Dugmore, the ANC’s head of elections in the province, commented:
‘In fact, the stats show an ANC that has canvassed tens of thousands more voters than we did in 2021. This has been done with painstaking door-to-door voter contact by over 10 000 of our committed volunteers. We are in a much stronger position than before.”
The ANC aims to canvass 879 212 voters by Wednesday but has reached only 231 913 so far. Dugmore mentioned that they had engaged members from the national executive committee, Cosatu, SACP, Sanco, and its women’s, youth, and veterans’ leagues.
‘This is something we did not have in 2019. Our canvassing numbers are increasing every day. A number of our local election teams have gone above 50% already – an incredible achievement. Our canvassers also report massive unhappiness with the DA across the province,’ he added.
Despite the campaign efforts, the ANC has not yet announced a premier candidate for the province as the country approaches the final stretch before the elections next week.
Pandor is one of three names submitted by the Western Cape provincial executive committee to the ANC’s national structure. The other two are ANC Western Cape MPL Ayanda Bans and former Youth League spokesperson Muhammad Khalid Sayed.
During a recent visit to Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa informed Rylands residents that discussions on selecting a candidate were ongoing. The DA’s Tertuis Simmers criticised the ANC for the delay, stating, ‘It begs the question: How can the ANC position itself as a credible opposition force in the Western Cape if it cannot even solidify its leadership to lead the province?’
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Picture: Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo Images