South African Election Updates

[Ab-Titchaz]

South Africans believe Zuma presidency is already sealed ​

ANC leader Jacob Zuma. Many are enthusiastic about attending the rally and finally voting ANC to enable Mr Zuma ascend the presidency.
​

By CHARLES OMONDI in JOHANNESBURG,

Many South Africans believe a Jacob Zuma presidency in the April 22 election is a foregone conclusion.

So dominant is Mr Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) that rivals seem to have resigned to merely stopping the party from winning a two-thirds parliamentary majority. The three leading parties will hold their final campaign rallies at different venues on Sunday.

Mr Zuma’s ANC, the Rev Mvume Ndadala’s Congress of the People (Cope) and Ms Hellen Zille’s Democratic Alliance (DA) have all set a Sunday date with the people. Official campaign period, however, ends on Monday, just a day after the ballot.

Whereas all the big three have gone on a publicity blitz about their final rallies, it is the ANC that surely takes the cake.

Whole page advertisements in the leading papers, posters on lamp posts and billboard are at virtually every corner of Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, announcing the Sunday simultaneous rallies at the Coca-Cola Park (formerly Ellis Park) and the Johannesburg Stadium in the Gauteng Province.

Cope’s rally will be in Limpopo while DA will be in Western Cape.

Christened the Siyanqoba (we are winning) rally, the ANC campaign head, Mr Fikile Mbalula, says the Sunday rally will be the party’s largest ever.

Mr Mbalula reckons that South Africa’s former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki are ‘automatically’ invited to the rally.

However, the controversy that ANC invited the last time it hosted Mr Mandela at a political rally is still fresh on people’s minds. The feeling in some quarters was that the Zuma-led party was taking advantage of Mr Mandela’s frailty to gain political mileage.

As for Mr Mbeki, it would be foolhardy to imagine him drumming support for Mr Zuma, the man seen as the main reason behind his presidency’s premature end.

Live transmissions

The ANC rally, adds Mr Mbalula, is expected to attract around 120,000. And to ensure those outside Johannesburg (Gauteng) do not miss out, there will be live transmissions via satellite to South Africa’s other eight provinces.

The ubiquitous ANC rally posters have Mr Zuma picture holding a microphone in one hand and the other raised up.

And the message is: “As a nation, we have done much to improve people’s lives. But there is much that still needs to be done. Working together, we can do more. So join us in a final push to mobilise each and every South African to vote for the African National Congress.”

And many are enthusiastic about attending the rally and finally voting ANC to enable Mr Zuma ascend the presidency. “I will vote for Zuma,’’ says taxi driver James Radebe. “He is a good man,’’ he adds.

Fellow taxi driver Patrick Zula says he will vote for Mr Zuma because he is bound to win anyway. “These politicians promise us a lot of good things but once they get to office, they forget all about us. Let me give Zuma a chance and see if he will make a difference.”

Mr Moshoeshoe Monare, the group political editor of South Africa’s premier daily, The Star, also says ANC victory and Zuma presidency was imminent.

Mr Monare dismisses the belief that Cope was a threat to ANC’s stranglehold on power. On the contrary, Mr Monare says the emergence of Cope has, in a way, worked to ANC’s advantage.

DAILY NATION - South Africans believe Zuma presidency is already sealed

 

[MzalendoHalisi]

sasa akiwa Raisi hope atafanya ngono salama asipate HIV na sii kuoga baada ya sex!

 

[Masanja]

sasa akiwa Raisi hope atafanya ngono salama asipate HIV na sii kuoga baada ya sex!

Mzalendo,

Huyu jamaa wanasema eti ali-slide bila kinga..sasa ni kwamba aliukwaa au? Ofcourse hajapima..je hawezi kulazimishwa kupima kama part ya kujua hali ya afya yake kama ataweza kuwa kiongozi?

Anyway nadhani hiyo ina interpretations nyingi...wengi wana mcriticize lakini nadhani no body can dare ask him kupima..mambo ya human rights yataingilia..

Duh..hapo ndo nashindwa kuelewa nexus ya ngono na ukimwi..kama hana na aliingia live? what happened...au siyo lazima uupate hata kama uki-slide?

 

[Pdidy]

Huyu jamaa wanasema eti ali-slide bila kinga..sasa ni kwamba aliukwaa au? Ofcourse hajapima..je hawezi kulazimishwa kupima kama part ya kujua hali ya afya yake kama ataweza kuwa kiongozi?
Angeanza mkuu JK alieukwaa uraisi na si kutuzuga kuchukuliwa DAMU alafu anaenda kupewa usalama wa taifa kuhakikisha amimwaga kazi kweli kweli;mungu atusaidie

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

sasa akiwa Raisi hope atafanya ngono salama asipate HIV na sii kuoga baada ya sex!

...To this I say Mungu ibariki Sauzi!!!!

 

[Kakati]

Jamani mbona sasa tunaongelea HIV kama ndilo suala la msingi badala ya uchaguzi. HIV sio ukimwi hata angepima bado angestahili kuwa raisi. Mbona yapo magonjwa mabaya na hatuulizi kama anayo. Hivi wandugu mnajua kusukari ni sawa au wakati mwingine mbaya zaidi kuliko HIV?

 

[Bluray]

Apparently hata New York Times wanaamini the election is a matter of formality.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Jamani mbona sasa tunaongelea HIV kama ndilo suala la msingi badala ya uchaguzi. HIV sio ukimwi hata angepima bado angestahili kuwa raisi. Mbona yapo magonjwa mabaya na hatuulizi kama anayo. Hivi wandugu mnajua kusukari ni sawa au wakati mwingine mbaya zaidi kuliko HIV?

Sio tu HIV mkuu, its about the man's thinking.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Mandela Appears at ANC Rally for Final Election Push​

By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 19, 2009; 12:28 PM

JOHANNESBURG, April 19 -- Pollsters and analysts predict a clean sweep for the ruling African National Congress when this nation goes to the polls on Wednesday. But just in case, the party pulled out an electoral trump card at a massive rally Sunday: Nelson Mandela.

Mandela, white haired and feeble at 90, rolled onto the field of a rugby stadium here in a golf cart alongside ANC leader and presidential front-runner Jacob Zuma. They were greeted by the ground-shaking roars of an exuberant crowd of about 100,000.

Mandela's rare public appearance amounted to the biggest endorsement possible in South African politics, a stamp of approval by the nation's foremost moral icon and first black president for a candidate critics consider too unethical to lead. The ANC has been tarnished by internal squabbles and a string of corruption scandals, most notable among them one involving Zuma himself. Prosecutors dropped graft charges against him two weeks ago.

After being helped onto a stage by former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Zuma, Mandela sat for the duration of the rally on a black sofa, smiling gently in a yellow t-shirt stamped with Zuma's visage. He did not address the crowd, but large screens broadcast a brief video of him urging ANC supporters to focus on the "primary task" of ending poverty and ensuring better lives for all South Africans.

"The ANC has the historic responsibility to lead our nation and help build a united, non-racial society," Mandela said in the video, then repeated the party's campaign slogan: "Working together we can do more."

Wednesday's vote will be this young democracy's most competitive yet. A new opposition party, formed by former ANC members opposed to Zuma, is expected to capture the votes of some who have grown disillusioned with a ruling party that won nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2004.

But analysts predict the new challengers will merely dent that dominance, and the biggest question now is whether the ANC will win enough votes to retain its two-thirds majority in parliament, which allows it to easily amend the constitution.

Mandela has steered clear of commenting on party divisions or Zuma's candidacy, though he did share the stage with Zuma at a rally earlier this year. That appearance sparked controversy after a newspaper reported that the ANC had pressured Mandela and endangered him by skirting security protocol and flying him to the event without his personal physician.

The ANC denied that, and on Sunday Zuma stressed that Mandela -- whom he called a "president, father and stalwart whose loyalty to the ANC we will never doubt" -- came to both rallies of his own accord.

"We have seen excitement about the ANC that we have not witnessed since the release of Madiba and that 1994 election," said Zuma, referring to Mandela by his clan name in a lengthy speech that began and ended with Zuma dancing and singing to raucous cheers. "The movement has come alive."

Jonathan Minyuku, 26, agreed. Sitting outside the stadium as the masses streamed out after the rally, the accounting assistant said he was sure the ANC was the only party capable of solving South Africa's problems.

Zuma, he said, "is the only great candidate for the presidency," Minyuku said, adding that he thought the corruption charges that vexed Zuma for so long were "internal politics," but nothing too dire. "People still have hope in the ANC."

Mandela Appears at ANC Rally for Final Election Push - washingtonpost.com

 

[Invisible]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-3rBtpX0UM]YouTube - Security a key issue in South African elections - 17 Apr 09[/ame]

Security a key issue in South African elections

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Some residents and businesses are looking beyond conventional means to tackle the problem.


It is one important issue confronting South Africans before national elections on April 22.


Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa went on patrol with private security guards in Johannesburg, the country's biggest city.



Source: Aljazeera

 

[Invisible]

By Delia Robertson
Johannesburg
21 April 2009



Nearly one third of South Africa's 23 million registered voters are younger than 30-years-old and of those, about two million are first time voters. There is much speculation about the impact of these young voters.

The 2009 election is the first in which voters who grew up out of the shadow of apartheid are registered in sufficient numbers that their choices will influence the outcome of the election. The questions have been, will they vote, and if so will they follow their parent's voting patterns.


There seems little doubt they will vote. Unlike the past two general elections, young voters have shown a lot of interest in the election campaign. Phumudzo, a 19-year-old first-time voter and college student, tells VOA the election is a hot topic among his friends and school mates.

"Even my roommate, he says he is going to vote," said Phumudzo. "I am with him now. Ja, they are also interested because a long time they were waiting for this day."


For young people like Phumudzo and his roommate Peace, education and job creation are important.

"Ja, even a job is important because if you get a job it means poverty is going to decrease," he added.

Parties have been hotly competing for young voters, and Jacob Zuma said on the last day of campaigning that he expected most of them to vote for his African National Congress.

"Many South Africans lost their lives fighting for freedom and the right to vote. And our youth must never take this right for granted," said Zuma. "We are confident of taking a huge slice of the youth vote in the country tomorrow."

But young voters appear to be divided about their choices. Phumudzo, who this year came from Limpopo province to study in Johannesburg, says his vote will go for change. His friend Peace says he will be voting for the ANC.

Aubrey Matshiqi of the University of Witwatersrand's Center for Policy Studies, tells VOA there is no doubt generational pressures that are beginning to build in South African politics. He says younger voters are becoming more and more distant from apartheid and cannot be appealed to in terms of the liberation struggle.

"And this generation of South African voters I think will in future starting with this election be making its political choices on considerations other than the role played by the ANC in that liberation struggle," he said.

Matshiqi says that political parties will in future have to pay close attention to the views and aspirations of these voters and tailor their political programs accordingly.



Source: VoA

 

[BAK]

South Africans living in the townships of Port Elizabeth are reporting for the BBC World Service on their lives and the issues that matter to them ahead of the country's most competitive election since the end of apartheid.

Asanda was brought up living and breathing the ANC

Asanda Booi is a 24-year-old office worker from Motherwell - a middle class township built in the 1980s. Asanda's father brought her up to believe in the ANC but since his death she's begun to question her commitment to the party:

Before my dad died a few years ago, he made a point of telling us what the ANC has done for the people of South Africa and how we owe our freedom to them.
But now he's passed away I feel kind of lost.

Ever since the new leader took over, I don't feel like it's the same ANC. My father is no longer here to answer my concerns - so I have to try and figure out which party to go for on my own.

It's a battle between my head and my heart... my head is telling me I cannot go for a party that has Jacob Zuma as its leader, but my heart won't let me break away from it.

My concern with Zuma is his morals and the example he will set to young men in our community.

He has five wives and I know that's part of his culture but I don't think he's a good role-model.

And the things that he's said about HIV before - how can you say that if you have a shower you reduce the risk of contracting it? That's not a good thing for someone who wants to be in charge of our country to say to people. How can we put our trust in someone like that?

'Friendly Advice'

Lots of my friends are still trying to make up their minds about who to vote for.

Every month we all get together to chat about things that are going on in our lives. We call ourselves the "Confirmation Society" and this week there was only one item on our agenda - elections.

Every month we all get together to chat about things that are going on in our lives. We call ourselves the "Confirmation Society"

Township reports: Background
Meet Township reporter Lenny
Meet Township reporter Lucky

"I think people are confused," says Puretsie Yako. "The government doesn't deliver, so some people see no point in voting at all. But I don't think that's right, people should take voting seriously if they want change."

My sister Vuyokazi doubts the ANC leadership. "I don't feel they're trustworthy," she says.

"Obviously no party is perfect, we understand Zuma is a person and whatnot but it's come to a point where we've lost our hope and trust in him. There have been so many charges... yes, we can forgive but we cannot forget."

"A president is supposed to be an ambassador," says Bongi. "When Nelson Mandela used to be our president we were proud to say we are from South Africa, but now with Zuma it is a different story. We cannot stay in a party because of its history; we have to look at the future."

My friends and I are all pretty confused, so I decided to go and see someone who - like my father - is passionate about the ANC and who knows more about the party's history.

'Retracing the steps'

Vuyokazi and I went to meet Cikizwa "Smally" Maqungo at her little two-bedroom house in New Brighton township.

"My parents were working for the ANC, I was born into the ANC in 1958, I have ANC blood running through my veins," Smally explains.

"I wanted to go and join the fight against apartheid, but I was arrested while trying to leave the country, I was trying to go into exile and fight as a soldier. I spent five years at Fort Jackson prison in Johannesburg. I would die for the ANC."

Jacob Zuma is the person who made me question my faith in the ANC so I asked Smally if she thinks the current leader of the ANC can uphold the values and morals of the past?

"I hope so but people can't be the same as Mandela, Mandela is too advanced and was too brilliant. They can't rule the country the same way as Mandela he did things his own way. Zuma can only do his best."

It was great to meet Smally - I think we got more than we bargained for. I was inspired by all the stories she told me.

She still believes in the party despite everything, which made me realise the ANC is not all about Zuma. Vuyokazi says talking to someone who has been so involved in the struggle really inspired her to stand up for what she thinks is right.

I really see Smally as a role-model and I think a country needs someone we can look up to - a person who inspires the whole nation.

So at least now I'll be voting knowing exactly what I am voting for and why. It was a real eye-opener.

I think we've had all the right preparation for the election, now it's just up to us to make the right choice.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Hii ANC inanitia kiwewe kidogo maana inaleta hisia kama za KANU
na CCM. Breaking their monopoly on the South African political scene
will be an uphill battle.Upinzani waombe that jamaa wata-self destruct
with time otherwise 'washiriki' tu hizi kura.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (centre) waves during the final ANC election rally in Johannesburg, April 19 ,2009. Mandela, 90, was driven into a packed sports stadium in a golf cart to cheers from the tens of thousands of ANC supporters gathered for the rally to be addressed by party leader Jacob Zuma.

Inkatha Freedom Party supporters carry a coffin with a picture of African National Congress party president Jacob Zuma ahead of Wednesday's elections, in Richards Bay, some 190km (118 miles) north of Durban, April 19, 2009.

Inkatha Freedom Party supporters gather under the watch of the police to hear leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi speak ahead of Wednesday's national elections, in Richards Bay, some 190km (118 miles) north of Durban, April 19, 2009. Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, dismissed accusations it planned to entrench power through constitutional changes and appealed for national unity at a final election rally

Supporters of the African National Congress attend the final election rally for the ruling party in Johannesburg, April 19, 2009

South Africa's leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party Mangosuthu Buthelezi speaks to supporters ahead of Wednesday's elections, in Richards Bay, some 190km (118 miles) north of Durban, April 19, 2009

Helen Zille, leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party, greets supporters at an election rally in Mitchells's Plain township near Cape Town, April 18, 2009. The country goes to the polls on April 22

​

 

[Lambardi]

Nauliza swali moja tu....sote tunamjua sana n.mandela madiba....nauliza kwa nini ana m back up zuma?
1.je zuma is completely innocent kwenye ile scandal yake?
2.au mandela anaogopa vurugu na kujiharibia jina lake asipom back up zuma sababu zuma anpendwa sana sana na walalahoi kama ilivyokuwa yeye mandela?

Naomba maelezo ya kina kwa wanaofuatilia kwa ndani ili niweze jua ........
Kwa nini mandela ana support zuma?au msimamo wake umeyumba???sababu ya popularity yake?

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Nauliza swali moja tu....sote tunamjua sana n.mandela madiba....nauliza kwa nini ana m back up zuma?
1.je zuma is completely innocent kwenye ile scandal yake?
2.au mandela anaogopa vurugu na kujiharibia jina lake asipom back up zuma sababu zuma anpendwa sana sana na walalahoi kama ilivyokuwa yeye mandela?

Naomba maelezo ya kina kwa wanaofuatilia kwa ndani ili niweze jua ........
Kwa nini mandela ana support zuma?au msimamo wake umeyumba???sababu ya popularity yake?

Mkuu,

maoni yangu ni kwamba Mandela anamsupport Zuma mainly because
hataki kuona ANC ikisambaratika.This was their party which they paid
the ultimate sacrifice for and being an old man, I believe he has a
sentimental outlook towards it.Kumbuka he stayed clear of all
controversies surrounding Zuma's court case mpaka ilipoonekana
Thabo Mbeki was pushing for it like a vendetta.When the sky cleared
ikawa politics as usual and he had to back the ANC.

Its sad that politics in SA is taking a different turn as had been
envisioned but I guess thats how democracy matures. I believe when
Madiba passes on kutakua na more break ups na watu kujibizana kana
kwamba wako sokoni.

Senti yangu hamsini hio.

 

[The Farmer]

Jacob Zuma is one step away from the Union Buildings - South Africa's seat of power.
By Peter Biles
BBC Southern Africa Correspondent​

Wednesday's national and provincial elections are certain to see the African National Congress (ANC) leader become the new president of South Africa.
But this year's elections have been different.
A new opposition party, hewn from the ruling African National Congress, is challenging its dominance.

Even if it can't win this year, Cope (Congress of the People) may have altered the landscape of South African politics.
Columnist and academic Xolela Mangcu of Johannesburg's Witwatersrand University says the ANC has had to up its game since the emergence of Cope.

"They forced the ANC to go on the defensive, as was clear with the sheer volume of numbers they brought out to their final rallies on Sunday," he said.
"The ANC have turned it around and re-energised themselves."

Zuma's ups and downs
Mr Zuma's life has always been a rollercoaster ride.
My first encounter with him was in Tanzania in 1987, during his years in exile.

At that time, Mr Zuma and Thabo Mbeki (then the ANC's Director of Information) appeared inseparable as ANC colleagues.
Mr Zuma subsequently became Chief of Intelligence for the ANC, but always seemed destined to remain in Mr Mbeki's shadow.
In 1999, at the start of his first administration, President Mbeki appointed Mr Zuma as his deputy.
However, in 2005, he was fired and later charged with corruption.
In the same year, he was accused of rape, but acquitted.
Nonetheless, many observers predicted that Mr Zuma would not be able to rebuild his political career.
Against the odds, and with the backing of powerful allies within the ANC, Mr Zuma staged a remarkable comeback.
Missing man
Mr Mbeki, in contrast, has gone missing from this 2009 election campaign.


Since being forced by the ANC to resign as president in September 2008, little has been seen of him, except in his capacity as the chief mediator in Zimbabwe.
He has not thrown his weight behind the ANC election campaign.
Nor has he come out in support of Cope, whose core backing comes from many of Mr Mbeki's former supporters.
Issues not personalities
Politicians like to pretend that elections are about issues rather than personalities.


But even in South Africa, where there are no direct elections for president, this campaign has been dominated by the familiar faces on the political landscape.
Jacob Zuma's portrait has been on election posters in every main street in the country.
In a sophisticated and expensive campaign, the ANC has ensured that Mr Zuma has enjoyed maximum exposure.
In recent months, he has been to all corners of South Africa, sometimes speaking at three or four events a day.
In spite of just having turned 67, Mr Zuma remains as energetic as ever.
He has swept into the final phase of this campaign with gusto, always delighting his supporters by singing the song that he has made his own -"Mshini Wami" (Bring Me My Machine Gun).
'Stop Zuma'
Not to be outdone, Helen Zille, the leader of the parliamentary opposition - the Democratic Alliance - has also adopted a song and dance routine.


Ms Zille, who is Mayor of Cape Town, is contesting the position of provincial premier of the Western Cape.
The DA has been mounting a concerted effort to stop the ANC from once again securing a two-thirds majority, as it did in the 2004 elections.
Many say the real competition is between Cope and the DA to see which will become the biggest opposition.
They would have the upper hand in any coalition that might be negotiated between the two.
"I'm not sleeping long enough at night to recharge my mobile phone", said a visibly tired Ms Zille, as she visited the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
End of campaigning Another leader who will welcome the end of campaigning is Mangosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party.
At the age of 80, he is the only high profile political figure who has fought every election since 1994.
Both the Democratic Alliance and the Congress of the People are set to win about 15% of the national vote, according to the latest opinion poll by Plus 94.
If Cope performs badly, questions will no doubt be asked about why the party chose to put forward a relatively unknown figure, Bishop Mvume Dandala, as its presidential candidate, instead of one of its two founder members - Mosiuoa Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa.

South Africans will breathe a sigh of relief after the elections this week.
They will however, have to wait a while longer to find out just what kind of president Jacob Zuma will be.

 

[Junius]

Mistake kafanya Mandela tokea asubuhi, pale anaingia madarakani tu Makamu wa Rais alipaswa awe CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, huyu jamaa aminia sana, LKN yale ya SUSUVIRI, MIAFRIKA NDO TULIVYO, wakaleta fitna zao wakamtosa jamaa. lakini huyu (RAMAPHOSA) miongoni mwa WAAFRIKA WACHACHE WENYE akili na vision zinazofanana na watu kama LI KWAN YEW, Sir Kitomide Massire na Dr. Levy Mwanawasa. Wacha wahuni kama kina ZUMA,waharibu nchi sasa.

 

[MzalendoHalisi]

Hivi Rhamaphosa uko wapi? Huyu jamaa hasikiki??

 

[Companero]

Hivi Rhamaphosa huko wapi? Huyu jamaa hasikiki??

Huyu jamaa ni BEE, ana mshiko wa nguvu na anafanya biashara za kiwango - mara moja moja anafanya udiplomasia, kumbuka kina Kibaki walimkatalia kutatua mgogoro wa Kenya kwa sababu inasemekana ni swahiba wa Kibiashara wa Raila. Pia huwa anajaribu kurudi kwenye chati ya siasa na alitaka kugombea Uprezaida wa ANC pale Polokwane ila akaona ngoma ya Zuma Tsunami ilikuwa nzito hivyo akabwaga manyanga mapema akamwachia Mbeki aabike mwenyewe kwa kupigwa bao kilaini na JZ. Msholozi alijipanga kisawasawa!