Rustenburg - President Jacob Zuma has yet again at the 11th hour skipped the site where mineworkers were gunned down by police in Marikana in North West in 2012.
Until Wednesday night, Zuma had been scheduled to campaign door-to-door in Wonderkop in Marikana, where residents were preparing to give him a hostile reception.
But at 6pm the ANC released a changed programme for Zuma, redirecting his campaign to Maboloka in Madibeng, which is part of the Bojanala region.
This is the second time in less than six months that Zuma has seemingly avoided going to Marikana, which is increasingly being viewed as a no-go area for his party.
In January, Zuma had been expected to hand over new houses to residents in Marikana West as part of the ANC’s annual January 8 celebrations. Instead it was left to Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.
The new programme for Zuma on Wednesday night showed he had opted instead for an ANC stronghold where the party got more than 80 percent of the votes during the national and provincial elections in 2014.
In contrast, in ward 26 in Madibeng, which includes the Nkaneng settlement near Wonderkop stadium where Zuma was initially set to go, the ANC garnered 33 percent of votes while the EFF got 44 percent in the same elections.
Residents of Nkaneng told The Star on Wednesday that Zuma would not be welcomed with open arms.
Since police gunned down striking miners in what has become known as the Marikana massacre, the area is of political significance.
Perceptions are that it has become a Zuma and ANC no-go area after the president failed to pitch up to address miners. But the EFF and its leader Julius Malema often receive a warm welcome there.
On Wednesday, residents vowed to gatecrash Zuma’s mini Siyanqoba (victory) rally.
“I don’t think he will even try coming here, but if he does he must brace himself for chaos and booing,” said Marikana resident Mamsy Poopedi.
“People here don’t want the ANC and they are still bitter about what happened in 2012. We feel that it was Zuma who failed us then. They are going to cause chaos if he sets his foot here.”
A Marikana community leader, who did not want to be named for fear of being targeted, said residents preferred having the EFF and Malema in the community.
“Malema has been with this community since that day; where was Zuma?” he asked.
“The first time Zuma had a chance to address the people after 2012, he didn’t want to, so why now, because it is election time? He can try but he won’t succeed here.”
Poopedi said she feared what would happen when the mineworkers who worked underground returned from their shifts and found Zuma addressing people in the stadium.
“I don’t want to see that. The peace here is fragile and it will take a small thing to trigger anger again,” she added.
A group of women draped in EFF and mining union Amcu T-shirts vowed they would boo Zuma if he went there.
“He knows his sins and what he did here in 2012; we don’t want him,” said one.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa downplayed the change in Zuma’s schedule.
“It’s not us who change it. It is the provinces themselves that sometimes say they spoke to regions and think it would add value if the president campaigned in a different area.”
@thabiso_tk
Elections Bureau