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ANC stalwart Tokyo Sexwale, who has hit the ground running campaigning for the party, said his campaign for the ANC was not meant to disrupt other parties but rather to remind South Africans of the organisation, which he referred to as being under attack.
The former Gauteng premier began his election campaign to help the ANC retain power in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Sexwale was in Dube, Soweto, begging people to vote for the ANC ahead of the general elections scheduled for 29 May.
Sexwale is a South African businessman, politician and anti-apartheid activist.
The former political prisoner, who was sent to Robben Island for many years for his anti-apartheid activities, was joined by Gauteng ANC provincial secretary TK Nciza, Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo and music and popular culture icon Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse.
However, one of the community members who was spotted wearing an ActionSA T-shirt was made to take it off and handed an ANC T-shirt.
READ: ANC brings out big guns to campaign, particularly in KZN
Speaking to the media at Thabo Street in Dube, Sexwale said: "When we say there's a fire in our house, we mean the organisation is under attack. There are people who want to remove it from the seat of power so that the leadership of the country can put other people in charge. We are here to say no—that will not happen."
ActionSA was one of the political parties that had consistently called for the removal of the ANC from power or kept the ANC from obtaining above 50%. The party is in a multi-party coalition with other political parties, including the DA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus (FFP), and ACDP.
Recollecting moments from the ANC’s history, Sexwale said being in Soweto was important because a lot of prominent struggle icons and uMkhonto weSizwe military veteran fighters came from that township.
He added:
"The street where you're standing is the street of our determination. That's why we are here to say it must never happen. This is the shortest street anywhere in the world where five freedom fighters were on the gallows. At the corner there, Jerry Mosololi was executed together with Marcus Motaung. They were called the Moroka Three. Closing our street this side is Bobby Tsotsobe - all sentenced to death. And then next door here we have Neo Potsane - also sentenced to death."
Sexwale, who received a warm welcome from Soweto residents, ANC volunteers and supporters, urged the masses to continue defending the party and what it had “achieved” for South Africans.
He told them that it was important to remember that the ANC was not a company or a shop but a history of the past of their people.
WATCH | Mbeki takes Soweto by storm as he re-affirms support for the ANC
Sexwale said the ANC was the only organisation which had ever governed nationally, and things should remain that way.
He said the party did not want to change anything and experiment with what they did not know.
"The ANC has done so much. This is the only organisation which has ever governed South Africa for the last eight years with mistakes, and some of them are bad. So rather this organisation with these mistakes than something that we don't know," Sexwale said.
WE ARE OUT TO WIN
The ANC Johannesburg regional secretary, Sasabona Manganye, told City Press that the party campaigned to win the elections and not go into coalition with anyone.
Manganye said although the polls might say the ANC would not get a particular percentage, that would not be the case.
READ: ANC brings out big guns to campaign, particularly in KZN
He mentioned that the elections would give the ANC real results and then the party would deal with the possible coalition at that point but for now, the ANC was campaigning for a decisive victory.
Mabuse said while there was a lot that had gone wrong in the ANC, it was time members found ways how to correct their wrongs.
"And the only way we can correct it is for us not to go away, but to come and assist the contestation in order for us to bring back the sense of belonging," he said.
"Obviously, there's a sense of betrayal from many people on the issue that what people thought it was, people think it's not. People will always be looking for the slightest things that have gone wrong and not looking at what has been achieved in all the years. There has been a lot of good, and it is important we focus on that as well."
