PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma says he does not understand black people who choose to vote for the DA.
Zuma made the statement at the ANC’s countdown to the August 3 local elections on Wednesday.
The president was at the Market Theatre where he addressed celebrities, church leaders and ANC leaders.
It took history, age and experience to govern SA, all of which the ANC had, said the president.
He reminded the audience of the role the ANC played in the negotiations for freedom, pointing out that many had forgotten about that, including the origins of the DA.
“After we liberated ourselves they came together, this name DA, Democratic Alliance it was an alliance between the Progressive Party and the National Party,” said Zuma.
“If you are a black person, you join that party really? Really?”
“It’s worse when you lead it,” he said much to the crowd’s amusement.
He said the DA had lost its identity and was trying to attract black voters, despite initially being an predominantly white party.
“They call rallies now with black people only, no white people, we pity them,” he said.
Zuma mocked other political parties without mentioning their names.
“You know we had another party that was very violent in KwaZulu-Natal, I’ve just forgotten its name,” he said, which made the crowd crack up with laughter.
The EFF was also on the list of the parties the president mentioned, saying its leader was expelled from the ANC when Mandela was still alive.
The president also made a dig at the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and its leader Bantu Holomisa, saying the party that called its leader the general — even though he was never a soldier — was shrinking.
The president also talked about a party that was established after the ANC’s national conference in Polokwane in 2007.
“There’s another one, it’s not too old … it has shrunk almost to an invisibility,” he said.
He was referring to the Congress of the People (COPE), which was formed after former president Thabo Mbeki was recalled from his position.
“There’s another one, where a disrespectful person was expelled. He was very angry when he left, he’s still angry today. Political parties are formed by politicians for political objectives, you can’t form a revenge organisation and therefore you can look and look again, there is no party to vote for if you are a serious thinking citizen of SA, except the ANC,” said to the president.
He reminded the audience of the importance of not taking what was said about the party too seriously, using an analogy Mandela once sent to them.
In a letter, the former president said the ANC should not to worry about the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), which was complaining about the ANC.
Mandela told the ANC members that an empty bottle facing the wind made the biggest noise but full bottle was quiet.
“So don’t worry … I know your hearts break when the media writes … journalists can write any composition. You know you are right, why worry? Just do the work of the country the road we are travelling is long,” he said.
The president danced the popular “dab” dance, that the party has now adopted as part of his campaign, before leaving the stage.
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