Duarte on ANC election campaign trail in Cape Town

ANC Deputy-Secretary General Jessie Duarte was on an election campaign trail in Cape Town in the Western Cape today. She conducted a voter registration drive in areas such as Makhaza in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats.

Duarte also laid a wreath at the site where a two-year-old boy, Imthandile Swartbooi, died after falling in an open drain. She visited the deceased’s family.

Duarte urged communities to elect their own candidates to serve as councillors:

The ANC in Cape Town is in full election mode ahead of the November local government elections. Its target is to make significant inroads in the City of Cape Town which is run by the DA.

The Interim Committee’s Provincial Co-ordinator, Lerumo Kalako, says they are confident that they will soon get enough resources to boost their campaign.

“The ANC will come around, the ANC always comes around. We know those challenges of paying staff are being attended by the ANC nationally and the officials on the ground here but as you know we don’t hide it at the moment. We don’t have resources but the support and ANC is planning to deliver these resources.”

Duarte visited the family of a toddler who drowned in an open drain. The toddler’s uncle, Nkosikhona Swartbooi, says they have been appealing to authorities for a while to close the open drains.

ANC DSG Jessie Duarte arrives in Makhaza in Khayelitsha for electioneering amid concerns over the list process. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/xgBk1S2BVf

— Bulelani Phillip (@BulelaniPhillip) September 15, 2021

“Unfortunately this drain has been opened for weeks close to a month and residents have been reporting that this drain is posing danger not only to motorists but also to the residents especially young kids and the elderly. Those calls were ignored.”

Duarte was also met with protests from some ANC supporters who complained about their candidate.

Amanda Helu says the candidate who will stand at ward 94 cannot be a leader.

“She is the candidate that was voted by the people but there was a dispute against her. She cannot lead people because there is a pending case against her that states that she swore at one of the members of the ANC.”

In her response, Duarte said that while the branch has an opinion, it must be the community that decides who must be the councillor.