Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma vowed on Wednesday
that the ANC will rule "forever" as the country gears up for
elections expected within months, according to reports.
"We will continue to run this government forever and
ever. Whether they [detractors] like it or not," Zuma was quoted as
telling ANC supporters in Zulu, one of the local languages.
He was speaking during an impromptu door-to-door campaign
in Mbombela, where the party will on Friday launch its election manifesto and
kick off the polls campaign.
He urged his supporters to vote in numbers to ensure that
the ANC garners 90% of votes in the province, already a stronghold.
Observers predict a fall in nationwide support for the
ANC this year, to around 60% or less.
Repeated corruption scandals, increasing crime levels,
poverty, high unemployment levels and internal bickering are hurting the ANC's
popularity.
The National Union of Metalworkers decided last month to
ditch the ANC and will not campaign for it nor support it financially in the
upcoming polls.
But the ANC leader scoffed at suggestions that support
for his party is waning.
"They are dreaming while they are awake. We are
going to hammer them," Zuma was quoted as saying by the City Press.
"We are stronger than before".
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu confirmed to AFP that
Zuma had been quoted correctly.
The president's statement infuriated the opposition which
accused him of using intimidating tactics.
"The ANC is resorting to scaring and intimidating
voters," said James Masango, Mpumalanga DA chairperson.
"These thinly veiled threats are symptoms of a party
and a president that is feeling the heat," added Masango in a statement.
Masango labelled Zuma's statement as
"anti-democratic" and "unbecoming" of a president of a
republic.
In 2008, Zuma also declared that his party would
"rule until Jesus comes back".
Zuma, 71, was first elected to office in 2009. As the
party's leader he is almost certain to be its presidential candidate in the
polls whose date has yet to be fixed.
