MK Party leader Duduzile Zuma, whose father Jacob Zuma is the party’s president, went on an election campaign in Ward 10, in the Far East of Mamelodi on Saturday.
She was accompanied by the party’s Region 6 coordinator McMillan Pitje and chairperson Kosabo Dube and other leaders of the party.
The ward’s residents were very happy to see the MK Party being active on the ground and told Duduzile Zuma and her entourage that they want to see changes in their ward.
Duduzile Zuma, who is a Member of Parliament, told Tshwane Talks that the purpose of her visit to the ward was to galvanise support for the MK Party ahead of the forthcoming by-elections in the area.
The by-elections have been necessitated by the death of Councillor Thabang Masemola, who was gunned down a few months ago at the Stoffel Park informal settlement area.
“It is highly disappointing that 30 years after the dawn of democracy with the former liberation movement being in control of Ward 10, nothing much has changed,” said Duduzile Zuma.
“This ward has been abandoned and it is MK Party’s job to win this ward so as to bring back some dignity to the people that live here,” she said.
“A community meeting will be held on Sunday to decide MK Party’s candidate for the by-election, but the ground forces are already speaking about the possible candidate and as MK Party we have 100% confidence in the mooted candidate,” revealed Duduzile Zuma.
“Some of the issues that have caught my attention in this ward are transformers that are exposed and the smell of sewerage, and another thing is that gangsterism is rife in the area and as MK Party we must take a zero-tolerance stance against gangsterism as it leads to loss of life and by extension voters, and as MK Party we selfishly want to grow our party and we need as many voters as we can get,” enthused Duduzile Zuma.
She called upon the government to do a bit more by allowing General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to come to Ward 10 and sort out acts of gangsterism that are prevalent in the area.
Stoffel Park resident Annah Maloka confessed that she will vote for the MK Party during the forthcoming by-elections because the party that had been in power in Ward 10 all along has failed her.
Another resident Johanna Mabole pleaded for job creation and moaned about the fact that she has to survive on the SASSA grant that is paid to her two children by the government and reckoned that MK Party will make a difference in their lives as she and her fellow residents have been voting for the ANC for a long time now without seeing any progress whatsoever in their lives.
“We are going to vote for MK Party in the by-election because the ANC has promised us many things that it has failed to deliver upon, like roads, jobs and toilets and we want to give MK Party a chance,” said yet another resident Kiki Mabena.
25-year-old Thapelo Selwane, who hasn’t voted before in his life, said he would definitely vote in the forthcoming by-elections and vote for MK Party.
MK Party Region 6 Chairperson Kosabo Dube told Tshwane Talks that the by-election campaign drive was a success and asked the community to endorse the recommended candidate of the party at a meeting that would be held on Sunday.
“We are also blessed by the presence of Member of Parliament Duduzile Zuma who came to assist us in our by-election campaign and was very well-received, and we are also thankful to the community of Ward 10 for having shown enthusiasm towards MK Party and this has led us to believe that we are taking over Ward 10 come the day of the by-election,” enthused Dube.