Zuma hits the road ahead of key local polls

Highlighting how high the stakes are in next month’s local elections, South African President Jacob Zuma himself took to the stump this week in a township rocked by anti-government protests in June. “On the third of August, we must all vote ANC,” Zuma on Tuesday told a 1,000-strong crowd in Hammanskraal on the outskirts of […]

Highlighting how high the stakes are in next month’s local elections, South African President Jacob Zuma himself took to the stump this week in a township rocked by anti-government protests in June.
“On the third of August, we must all vote ANC,” Zuma on Tuesday told a 1,000-strong crowd in Hammanskraal on the outskirts of Pretoria, referring to the African National Congress. The ANC has been in power since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Zuma said it would be “embarrassing” if “other parties” took control of municipalities in Gauteng province which encompasses Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) hopes to make major gains in the August 3 polls by tapping into widespread discontent with the state of the country in general and with Zuma in particular.