Gauteng ANC chairman Paul Mashatile believes the ANC will not struggle to get the backing of the black middle class in Gauteng in this year’s local government elections.
According to Mashatile, who has returned to the province after he was appointed by Premier David Makhura as MEC for Human Settlements and Co-operative Governance this week, a lot of work has already gone into wooing the middle class during the 2014 general elections.
His reappointment has been largely interpreted as a move to target the middle class that has appeared to grow increasingly frustrated with the ANC, placing it in danger of losing the Gauteng metros where they are a significant constituency.
While Mashatile and other ANC leaders have sought to downplay the effect that some of its actions on issues like the controversial e-tolls and the handling of the Nkandla matter have had on the Gauteng middle class, there have been significant admissions that these might hurt the party.
One of the hardest of these was contained in secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s organisational report delivered at the party’s national general council (NGC) last year, where he warned that were elections to be held at that time the party could dip below the 50 percent mark.
At the same NGC, the party’s discussions on the “balance of forces” concluded there was an urgent need to renew its relationship with this constituency.
Sunday Independent