By SIMON NARE
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has urged black people to exercise their right to vote as much as white people to ensure that the ANC wins big in upcoming local elections.
Addressing hundreds of Tembisa residents during his campaign blitz, Zuma said black people should not be complacent and not go to the polls because there are many of them and others will vote instead.
“White people, even though they are in the minority, they all go and vote.
“Don’t say us blacks are many and others will vote and even if I don’t vote it doesn’t matter.
“That is wrong, your vote is important for us so that we build our country and be in control of the economy. Without your vote we will be unable to do that,” Zuma said.
He said the ANC needed each and every vote to win big in the next elections so that it could make necessary changes leading to the economy being in the hands of black people.
“If you are only voting but you are not controlling the economy then you have problems in your hands. Black people must unite because if we don’t bring back the land, poverty will never end. We should not be fighting among ourselves because that is only pleasing those who were oppressing us.
“There are those who are controlling the economy and watching us fighting among ourselves. Let us use our vote to run the country and take control of the economy,” Zuma said.
He said God did not create black people to be oppressed by others, but people came and took away everything that belonged to them. Therefore black people must use the power of the vote to take it back.
Zuma continued playing the race card by telling the crowd black people were living in harmony before oppressors came. He said they were rich and had land on which to farm and fend for themselves. The poverty of today was brought by oppressors who cut black people off from the economy.
Before speaking, Zuma had gone door-to-door at Enhlazeni Hostel where he met community leaders behind closed doors. He told the crowd he had seen for himself the conditions under which people lived, and the leaders had given him a list of grievances the party would look into.
He said the ANC government had done a lot for the people, but there was still more that needed to be done.
