The period since the completion of the ANC provincial nomination process has been marked by an intense campaign to entice Polokwane delegates across the country to change their voting patterns.
The Mail & Guardian spoke to delegates from several provinces.
“I have been personally approached to vote for Jacob Zuma. Zuma supporters told me I would get a job in the local municipality after the Polokwane conference.
“No one will be able to convince me to vote for other people because I know what I want. People know my position is very clear,” said Zoyisile Dyasi from OR Tambo region in the Eastern Cape.
“There are many comrades who have come to me, saying the issue of JZ was not properly explained. They said he is not the right candidate because of the corruption case he was involved in. Thabo Mbeki supporters also said Zuma is not fit to rule. Some people have changed their minds, but I told them he is the right candidate for me,” said Siyamvuyela Dotwana from the same region.
“I’m still waiting to be approached, I’m not sure why nobody has approached me,” said a branch delegate from KwaZulu-Natal’s influential eThekwini region.
“But seriously, if anybody is coming into the province to lobby, they have to be from a camp other than Zuma’s and I think we’re quite clear on our position: things have to change and this is a principled decision we are taking [in supporting Zuma’s candidacy]. There is no compromise. I didn’t enter politics post-1994, I’ve been here since the Seventies,” he said.
“How can they offer me a position in government when they are already on their way out of government? Even the analysts are changing their tune,” another ANC delegate from rural KwaZulu-Natal said.
“It’s too late now, we’ve been working on the JZ thing for years. It’s too late to stop the tsunami. The vote might be secret, but the money issue cannot be, it will only create problems. If Mbeki’s people give me money, they will want something else in return, not just a vote,” he said.
“I was phoned by a well-known Young Communist League leader who asked me to vote for Zuma, saying he was a unifier. He said if we allow Mbeki to go for another term, he might end up becoming like Mugabe, who refuses to step down from power. He said Mbeki did not groom Zuma deliberately so that he becomes the only choice. But I made it clear. I will not change my mind. I’m voting Mbeki,” said a delegate from Carletonville, North West.
The Western Cape regional secretary of the ANC, Mbulelo Ncedana, who is an Mbeki supporter, said they know who the delegates are who don’t support the president. “We have the list of names and then we make appointments and in some cases we get ANC veterans to go to these comrades to persuade them.”
Ncedana said the lobbying period is exhilarating: “The political debates among delegates are intense and alive, but this time round we’re talking in the open. Sometimes the two sides can barely greet each other — the tension between the two sides is so high.”
“Some people are saying that we will get support in getting education, housing and water. They say we will get new roads if we vote correctly,” a delegate from the Amathole region said.