Sunday Times today: Cyril Ramaphosa off to woo voters in Australia

[mistermoose]

ANC to cam­paign Down Un­der in poll where ev­ery vote counts

Ob­vi­ously we will not leave out any vot­ers that are likely vote for us

ANC deputy pres­i­dent Cyril Ramaphosa is pack­ing for Perth, but he is not em­i­grat­ing Down Un­der.

In­stead, the man ex­pected to be ap­pointed South Africa’s deputy pres­i­dent if the ANC wins this year’s gen­eral elec­tions is go­ing to Aus­tralia to woo South African vot­ers liv­ing there and pos­si­bly es­tab­lish a branch of the party.

Ramaphosa will lead a del­e­ga­tion of ANC lead­ers to Aus­tralia at the end of this month, when they will hold meet­ings with South African ex­pa­tri­ates and the Aus­tralian La­bor Party.

The visit is in­tended to con­vince the es­ti­mated 80 000 South Africans liv­ing in Aus­tralia to vote for the ANC.

The ANC set up an elec­tion team tar­get­ing over­seas vot­ers af­ter Pres­i­dent Ja­cob Zuma signed the Elec­toral Amend­ment Act 18 of 2013 into law, al­low­ing all el­i­gi­ble South Africans liv­ing abroad to cast their votes in this year’s elec­tions.

The head of the ANC’s in­ter­na­tional re­la­tions sub­com­mit­tee and deputy min­is­ter in the Pres­i­dency, Obed Bapela, said the visit to Perth was im­por­tant for the party be­cause it also wants to gauge South Africans’ opin­ion of their coun­try.

“The ANC is a non­ra­cial or­gan­i­sa­tion, and ob­vi­ously we will not leave out any vot­ers that are likely to vote for us. So we will be tar­get­ing Aus­tralia be­cause of the num­ber of South Africans that are there.”

Bapela said they ex­pected a warm re­cep­tion from the ex­pa­tri­ates.

“Re­mem­ber, the South Africans in Aus­tralia are those who left when they said the crime was too much . . . [Others would] not ac­cept a black gov­ern­ment. Now we are 20 years into democ­racy, I think they have re­con­nected with South Africa.”

The ANC is also plan­ning a rally in Lon­don next month. It has al­ready set up a branch and has struc­tures or­gan­is­ing South Africans.

“It’s more a fact-find­ing mis­sion in Aus­tralia, un­like in the UK . . . When we get the num­bers that we think are en­cour­ag­ing, we might ask them to es­tab­lish an ANC branch,” said Bapela.

He added that or­gan­i­sa­tions such as the FNB-spon­sored Home­com­ing Revo­lu­tion — which seeks to at­tract ex­pa­tri­ates back to the coun­try — were do­ing a good job in chang­ing per­cep­tions about South Africa among ex­pa­tri­ates.

The DA is also fight­ing for the over­seas vote and its par­lia­men­tary leader, Lindiwe Maz­ibuko, toured the UK last year.

This week, party leader He­len Zille re­leased a recorded video mes­sage that urged over­seas vot­ers to “re­cap­ture the dream of 1994” by vot­ing for the DA.

Zille said a vote for the DA was a vote for the pro­tec­tion of the con­sti­tu­tion, which, she said, Zuma planned to change.

“We can’t take any risks and that’s why we need ev­ery vote we can get so that we can en­sure a fu­ture for all, in­clud­ing those who wish to re­turn to this won­der­ful coun­try.

“Even if they don’t [re­turn, they should do it] for the loved ones they have here. They will want to have a fu­ture,” said Zille.

Ac­cord­ing to the Home­com­ing Revo­lu­tion, the UK has the high­est num­ber of South Africans liv­ing abroad. CEO An­gel Jones said re­search showed that 37% of South African liv­ing abroad were in the UK, fol­lowed by the US with 12%. Aus­tralia is third with 10%, Canada has 5%, New Zealand 4.5% and Ire­land 3%. Others are scat­tered in other parts of the world. A re­cent US cen­sus put the num­ber of South Africans liv­ing there at about 85 000.

“There are an es­ti­mated 550 000 South Africans liv­ing in the UK, but if you’re look­ing at South Africans el­i­gi­ble to vote it’s prob­a­bly 240 000,” said Jones.

The Home­com­ing Revo­lu­tion will hold an ex­hi­bi­tion in Lon­don in March.

[Guest May]

Aaaaahhhhhhhuggggg I think I am definitely staying in Brisbane now.

[mistermoose]

Shows how out of touch with reality they are. Opening an ANC branch in Australia? LOL. Marketing 101: know your audience.

[AndreaL]

They are out of touch, their stats appear to be way off...........

But the UK still leads the way when it comes to the number of South African-born individuals living within the country's borders; figures from the past few years have revealed that the number of South African-born people in Australia stood at 155, 690 whilst there were 227,000 in the UK. This does not include the number of children born to South African parents in Britain.

The next few countries topping the list were the United States with 78 ,616, New Zealand with 41,676 and Canada with 38,310.

More accurate figures will become available when the Office for National Statistics releases figures from the 2011 British Census later this year.

Figures for England and Wales, not Scotland

Of the 191,000 South-African born people recorded in the 2011 Census, 94,000 stated that they arrived in the UK before 2001; this was 71 per cent of the South-African born recorded in the 2001 Census (132,000).
South African-born was the eighth highest ranking non-UK country of birth in the censuses of both 2001 and 2011.

[Brad76]

It's ok, the ANC is used to barking up the wrong tree!

[Sa2Nz2Oz]

I thought I would put this under "Funnies" but it is real!!!

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Ramaphosa-off-to-Oz-20140118

[Guest May]

I love the comments that follow. I must admit I always thought that you could vote in any city. Send him to Canberra. Like they say how nice I suppose he will be in Perth for some time on taxpayers money living a lavish lifestyle in AU$.

80 ooo ppl in Aus are not going to travel to Canberra to vote. It is just so sad makes one want to cry out of pure frustration, To think that some of us have family suffering in South Africa because of idiots like this. criminals.

[Eyebrow]

Sounds like someone just want a free holiday in Australia, paid for by South African tax money...

[HadEnoughofJuju]

This all just sounds like an elaborate cover for the next parliamentary holiday spending spree. Do they seriously think that we came here only because of crime and that the 80 000 that are here are all ANC voters?

[KalahariHarry]

I dont think many immigrants will vote ANC - CHUCKLE...

Sorry HEOJJ, if you are planning to vote ANC i did not mean to offend you, hehe

[Alida]

OH NOOOOOOO !!! We do everything we can, give up everything we have, to get out of Africa, now Africa is pursuing (persecuting ???) us internationally !!! I REALLY, HONESTLY hope that there will be NO one living in Aus who would vote for the ANC ( I almost said- voting AT ALL) this coming election, that would blow my top off !!

[motladi0210]

I found it very intersting to read in this week's Sunday Times that Cyril Ramaphosa will be in Perth campaining for voters. Really........after 20years.....a sign that it's now getting tough for "them". GOOD LUCK.

Edited January 19, 2014 by AndreaL
I've merged both topics as they are the same subject

[Bams]

They know that if they made voting easy and accessible for those in Oz that the ANC will loose hands down, that is why you can only do it in Canberra... Think they are a little scared...

Also believe this is just a holiday opportunity that the SA tax payer is covering!!. Cant believe that people will go through all we are going through to immigrate and then vote ANC from there....

[Renny]

Hahaha good one!

[Lynnie]

LMAO!!!! You definitely posted it in the correct area... Funny indeed!!!

[HadEnoughofJuju]

I dont think many immigrants will vote ANC - CHUCKLE...

Sorry HEOJJ, if you are planning to vote ANC i did not mean to offend you, hehe

I would vote for the "Mothers against housework party" before I voted ANC.

[Timmin]

that is why you can only do it in Canberra... .

No, you can vote at any South African High Commission or Consulate.

As per http://www.sahc.org.au/

"The Mission is situated in Canberra, the capital of Australia."

"Honorary Consuls are situated in Melbourne, South Australia, Brisbane (vacant) and Perth."

So please, if at all possible, GO VOTE!

Edited January 19, 2014 by Timmin

[Erik]

according to the DA votehome site, it's still just Canberra?

http://www.votehome.org/how-and-where-to-vote

[HadEnoughofJuju]

Quite frankly the arse doesn't know what the elbow is doing in South Africa and that's exactly what the Rulling Party want, the more confusion the less likely Saffa's down under are going to vote. Politics.

[KalahariHarry]

HEOJJ

[Bronwyn&Co]

I have been told by the consulate in Canberra and the DA's Votehome that we have to register in person in Canberra, but now what is this link on their website called DIRCO, software specifically designed for us to register while abroad?? What is going on? Do they even know? I will phone Canberra again tomorrow.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

Bron, you're a brave girl. I think they are intentionally giving you the run around so we don't get to vote.

[Bronwyn&Co]

Or they are trying to get us to register so they can figure out where we all are...I don't trust them. The ANC knows nobody here is going to vote for them, duh!

[Bronwyn&Co]

I have been told by the consulate in Canberra and the DA's Votehome that we have to register in person in Canberra, but now what is this link on their website called DIRCO, software specifically designed for us to register while abroad?? What is going on? Do they even know? I will phone Canberra again tomorrow.

No it looks like I was wrong. The link wants us to register to tell the Govt about overseas travel, not register to vote. I was tooooo happy & didn't read the fine print.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

Or they are trying to get us to register so they can figure out where we all are...I don't trust them. The ANC knows nobody here is going to vote for them, duh!

I've never trusted the ANC government and the last thing I want is for them to know my whereabouts. Australia is broad enough of a location for them.