President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned senior ANC leaders that those who bunk their campaign assignments would face harsh consequences because their conduct demotivates the party’s volunteers on the ground.
Ramaphosa, said this at a party’s recent national executive committee meeting whose audio recording was leaked to Sunday World.
Ramaphosa warned that the party’s election campaign needed some “oomph”.
He said although the campaign was gathering momentum, senior leaders needed to multiply their efforts.
“If we can do that, this election is ours to win,” he said, adding that while surveys kept forecasting that the ANC was going down, the people on the ground were responding positively to the party’s election message.
He continued: “It’s when we are among our people that we really see the enthusiasm. The response to our movement and message is present. We have to do more on outreach in the last six weeks. These are the six weeks that are going to count.”
He said that every senior leader of the ANC had a responsibility to mobilise resources to support ground forces because that is what they were elected into the NEC for. “Provinces are pulling through. We will be doing more and more in terms of resourcing the campaign. This is the hour, comrades. If we don’t do so, we won’t be able to bring out lots of our people.”
Ramaphosa said that in order for the ANC to win the upcoming May 29 elections, it was no longer enough to target only 10 million votes like the party did in the past.
“Now we have to get 13-million to 14-million votes in order to be clearly assured of a clear victory. There is much work to be done. Through our commitment, we can then demonstrate to provinces and regions that we all need to pull this wagon and make sure that it moves forward.”
He warned that the ANC’s national working committee, which sees the party’s day-to-day operations, would be receiving reports on NEC members who abandoned their campaign duties and that both he and party deputy president Paul Mashatile would be watching the space with a hawk’s eye.
“This is a call to action and to also say that if we don’t meet our obligations, it is going to go beyond a call from the president or DP (deputy president). It is going to be consequential, and we don’t want that.”
He commended NEC members for desisting to attack each other in the media. “I’m not seeing it, and that is good. We know who the enemy is. We must
continue as the NEC members to engage. We are not a one-person leadership. We need many voices articulating one message.”
Ramaphosa ended his address on a positive note, saying that the field was wide open for the ANC to score a landmark election victory. “I don’t see competition against us. If it is there, it is limited to certain areas. This election is ours to lose, and if we want to lose it, then we will not go out and work.”
