ANC won't give up on people of Nelson Mandela Bay - Mbete

21 July 2016

Port Elizabeth – ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete has complete confidence that the party will win the fierce election race being run in Nelson Mandela Bay.

And no poll is going to tell her any different.

Speaking during door to door visits in Kwazakhele in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday, Mbete said they were confident of a win at the polls because people loved the ANC.

This came through clearly during their interaction with the people, she said.

"And I don’t really get worried about the surveys that are done. I don’t have complete confidence in them," she said.

She was not commenting about the surveys, she said, because the ANC knew the relationship it had with its people.

Poll projections have shown that ANC mayoral candidate Danny Jordaan and DA contender Athol Trollip, are neck-and-neck in the race for the City Hall.

But this does not worry Mbete.

"I have confidence that the ANC will win this ANC metro. We have been working very hard in this place," she said.

'It’s not a major crisis'

The people had confidence in the ANC, she told media, because they knew they could trust the party to continue to address their problems, even before the elections.

Voters had given the ANC the mandate to take the metro and continue with their programme of action, she said.

They would never give up on the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, she added.

"The ANC never gives up, we will never give up on our people. Even if the people sometimes get angry or upset about one thing or another, life goes on and we continue to engage and talk to them."

On unhappiness over candidate lists, she said there were always internal engagements and procedures in the ANC, and those things were listened to, and dealt with.

"The issue of those problems, they are an ongoing challenge in any organisation. It’s not a major crisis."

Accompanied by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, Nelson Mandela Bay Deputy Mayor Bicks Ndoni and various PEC members, and surrounded by bodyguards, Mbete rolled up to the shack town in three SUVs.

After visiting three houses in the area, where she was told about the problems facing the community - which included electricity, housing, toilets and relocations - she held a public meeting where she told residents their problems were being listened to.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.