Political parties are going for broke this week

With just a eight days left on the campaign clock, political parties are going for broke this week, covering all corners of the country in a last bid to win votes.

The ANC, which started at a slow pace then gained momentum, is sending all of its leaders out on the campaign trail.

ANC president Jacob Zuma has cleared his government diary and will crisscross the country to garner votes for the party.

Party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe would on Thursday host a live debate on twitter to persuade people to vote ANC. It would also start broadcast advertisements highlighting its service-delivery record.

As campaigning hits the home stretch, the ANC is expected to announce today a campaign blitz featuring all its officials.

Opposition parties, including the DA, will this week also intensify campaigning. The DA has launched posters, with the slogan "your vote can win it".

DA national spokesman Lindiwe Mazibuko said the new slogan was meant to encourage people to vote. "We now know that some metro and smaller municipalities are on shaky ground, including Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg.

"So our message is that DA supporters, old and new, must come out in large numbers on election day," she said.

DA leader Helen Zille and the party's Cape Town mayoral candidate, Patricia de Lille, will today canvass for votes at the University of Cape Town. De Lille will participate in an election debate on Cape Talk today and Radio Sonder Grense tomorrow.

On Thursday, Zille will hit Tshwane with Cape Town's service delivery track record to lure voters in Shonganguvhe and surrounding areas to chose the DA.

On Friday, Zille, together with the party's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Mmusi Maimane, will take the DA's campaign to the hotly contested Johannesburg metro.

COPE leaders will also blitz parts of the country where they believe they stand a chance of winning votes.