Sawt Falasteen - South Africa's ruling ANC stages rally to defend solo rule

President Cyril Ramaphosa's party summoned the faithful and bussed in the undecided to fill more than two-thirds of the 90,000-seat FNB stadium between Johannesburg and Soweto and give his re-election bid some buzz.

"We will do more and we will do better," the 71-year-old millionaire former businessman told the crowd, branding the ANC "the only political party in the whole of South Africa that can bring so many people together in one place".

"We gather here carrying together the hopes and aspirations of millions," he said. "Our people will decide whether our country continues to move forward with the ANC to a brighter future or turns back to a terrible past."

The president won occasional cheers as he pledged not to scrap black economic empowerment programmes and suggested a possible raise in grant money for the poor.

But the crowd was already thinning markedly when musical entertainment gave way to his hour-long speech.

If the polls are to be believed, Wednesday's vote may mark the first time since South Africa became a democracy that late leader Nelson Mandela's party fails to seize an absolute majority.

- 'Really struggling' -

Clad in yellow and green T-shirts, the ANC supporters put on an enthusiastic show, even if many were sceptical that Ramaphosa could recapture the party's former glory.

"It's important to come out this year because the ANC is really struggling," said Nkululeko Sibeko, 37, from Ramaphosa's hometown Soweto, he and his girlfriend sporting portraits of the president on their shirts.

Up against 51 opposition outfits, Ramaphosa still expects to lead the biggest single bloc in the National Assembly, but if he falls below 50 percent he may struggle to build a coalition of MPs to re-elect him.

At 74, Elizabeth Mzize is old enough to remember the ANC's long struggle against apartheid and came to the rally despite sometimes struggling to walk with her stick. "We are here for Mandela!" she said.

Asked about Ramaphosa, Mzize hunched forward with a grin, breaking into a silent laugh. A party stalwart helping her group to the venue quickly intervened: "Yes, he is the right man!"

- Contempt of court -

The centre-right opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) under John Steenhuisen will hold its last major rally on Sunday, hoping to improve on its 20 percent showing in 2019.

The DA is popular with South Africa's white minority and successful in the Western Cape province but will need the support of a coalition of smaller black-led parties to replace ANC rule.

The ANC's other threat comes from the radical left and red beret-wearing firebrand Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who staged a rival rally on Saturday in the northeastern city of Polokwane.

And the great unknown is former president Jacob Zuma and his newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

Zuma, who has a conviction for contempt of court, has been barred from standing to be an MP and thus from the presidency.

But his party could still take enough votes from his former party, the ANC, to give the charismatic 82-year-old leverage in post-election alliance negotiations.

- Growing disenchantment -

Sliding under 50 percent would put the ANC and South Africa in uncharted waters, but analysts and opinion polls agree this is the most likely outcome.

The ANC won freedom for black South Africans after decades of apartheid, helped build democracy and lifted millions out of poverty by creating a broad social welfare system.

But many in the country of 62 million are fed up with high and growing unemployment, currently at 32.9 percent, as well as rampant crime, corruption, power cuts and water shortages.

The economy grew a meagre 0.6 percent in 2023.

About 27 million people are registered to vote on May 29. They will elect the 400 members of the National Assembly, which then chooses the president.

The opposition DA polls below 25 percent.

Led by Steenhuisen, 48, a career politician promoting the privatisation of state-owned companies and the loosening of labour laws, it vowed to "rescue" South Africa and has formed a coalition with about 10 smaller parties.

Malema's EFF and Zuma's MK have been hovering on around 10 percent in polls.

Thousands of supporters of the EFF, which has banked on the growing disenchantment with the political elite among South Africa's majority poor, thronged the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane on Saturday.

"We are ready to lead the government of South Africa from now onwards," Malema told the gathering, hoarse after an energetic campaign.

"We are ready to fight all criminals in the country, including the corruption of politicians. No politician will be left unattended."

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F.AbuZaid--SF-PST