RECLAIMED: ANC WINS BACK 181 CANDIDATES AS CONCOURT HUMBLES DA, AND ZILLE'S ARROGANCE PROVES MBALULA RIGHT - NOTHING BINDS US FOREVER
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
JOHANNESBURG -The ANC is back, and its road to reclaiming its former glory starts now.
Thursday's Constitutional Court judgment reinstating 181 ANC candidates was more than a legal victory. It was a political resurrection, a chance for the African National Congress and its millions of supporters to remind South Africa why this movement has led this country since 1994.
For weeks the DA celebrated. They thought the ANC would disappear from the ballot in six municipalities - Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KZN, and Mangaung in the Free State. They went to court to keep the ANC off. They wanted to win by technical knockout, not by votes.
The ConCourt said no. The will of the voters must prevail over a missed button.
The judgment has proved one thing: The ANC must focus on itself and the upcoming November 4 local elections. No more distractions. No more trying to please its political nemeses in the Government of National Unity.
Just hours after the ANC's tearful victory at Constitution Hill, the DA's true face showed.
Responding to Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula's warning that the ANC must review its GNU relationship with the DA - "Nothing binds us forever" - Helen Zille went on eNCA to lecture the ANC.
Zille maintains that the DA has the right to differ with its coalition partner and says the ANC must accept that it did not win the last election outright.
It is the height of arrogance. The DA went to court to block 181 ANC candidates from contesting, tried to disenfranchise ANC voters, ate humble pie at the ConCourt, and now wants to lecture the ANC about not winning outright.
As one South African put it on eNCA's page: "You simply just can't play dual-roles. You're either a partner or an opposition, can't be both."
That comment, liked by dozens, captures the anger on the ground. The DA wants to be in government with the ANC in the day, and in court against the ANC at night.
This was born from a simple human error - one missed click on "Submit as Final" after all documents were uploaded and deposits paid. The ANC admitted it. But the DA saw an opportunity to benefit from an ANC-free ballot and opposed the ANC all the way to the highest court, warning of "absolute chaos" if the ANC was put back.
Justice Rammaka Mathopo exposed them: "Why is my right now diluted by the software button?"
The DA's argument collapsed. The court ruled for the people.
Outside Constitution Hill, Mbalula captured the moment that defines this reclamation. Tearful and exhausted from sleepless nights, he said: "When this movement believed that a right had been taken from our people, we walked up this hill with papers in our hands."
He walked up with papers, walked out with 181 candidates. He collapsed afterwards from exhaustion, was assisted by spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu, but stood up with a message the DA must now hear.
Comments