A woman casts her ballot in a polling station for the parliamentary elections in Brazzaville.
Zille made the controversial comments in a tweet last year, and following weeks of outrage, apologised on a television current affairs programme.
But the ANC has not forgotten the tweet and it seems the refugee comments will be part of their election campaign, at least in the Western Cape, where they seeks to win the province back from the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Treating black Africans who live in Cape Town’s poor informal settlements as if they were refugees who do no deserve proper services from the government was the thrust of President Jacob Zuma’s address to about 2 000 people at Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, Cape Town.
He began his visit in the area by conducting a door-to-door campaign where he visited residents in their shacks, which are built along the mountainside. There, residents complained about lack of jobs, poor sanitation and asked for proper houses.
One of the shacks that Zuma visited was a home of a woman who died two days earlier when her shack caught fire. A neighbour told Zuma that the area was prone to shack fires adding that: “every time there’s a fire, we lose a human life in the fire”.
'DA Broken Promises – No Housing For Poor'
During the door-to-door visits, he handed over a four-page pamphlet titled “DA Broken Promises – No Housing For Poor”. Zuma, accompanied by among others Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and provincial ANC leaders later addressed a crowd in an open space.
He told the crowd he was shocked to see the way people lived under the DA governments that “claimed all was well in the province and city”.
“Even when they speak in Parliament, the DA says things are great here [in the Western Cape].” He accused the local government of not helping in the area because “it says it is ANC people staying here”.
He vowed to speak to the provincial and local government leaders about the problems in the area.
'No refugees here'
Zuma then told the crowd about a letter he had seen from a DA councillor to the people of Masiphumelele, another Cape Town informal settlement, in which the councillor wrote that “they can’t provide for people who ran from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape at the invitation of friends and family”.
The ANC’s Cape Metro chairperson, Xolani Sotashe, read out a part of the “letter”. “You must know what these people think of you,” said Zuma afterwards.
“There are no refugees here; you are a South African but you are told that you are a refugee. I’ll speak to them and ask for an explanation,” said Zuma.
Zuma proceeded to Hangberg, a predominantly coloured area, on the other side of Hout Bay.
Provincial secretary Songezile Mjongile said there will be many more similar visits by senior ANC leaders over the coming months. He said the party was “reconnecting” with communities.
“It’s about visibility and people having marching to the government about service delivery, but now the governing party is coming to them to talk about that delivery,” said Mjongile.