Gauteng premier David Makhura has called on voters in the province not to punish the party at the polls because they disapprove of President Jacob Zuma's leadership.Addressing members of the Hellenic, Italian and Portuguese Alliance on Thursday night, Makhura said the party must not be judged on its leader's behaviour.Some alliance members had told him they remained confident in ANC local structures, but did not trust the party's national leadership because of Zuma."If you have an issue with the president of the ANC ... my appeal to you is: just appreciate the level of complexity in the ANC. The ANC has had its ups and downs, but it has always been more enduring than its individual leaders. Local elections are always about voting for the municipality," he said."If you want to understand the ANC, don't look at just one individual. A big problem in South Africa's political discourse is that people reduce [the] ANC to its leader. ... They look at the leader of the ANC and say: 'We've got a problem with that leader and, therefore, we have a problem with that organisation,'" said Makhura. "What we were taught is that leaders come and go, but the ANC remains."story_article_left1The provincial leadership of the ANC in Gauteng, including Makhura, is known for being opposed to Zuma.Makhura said national leadership issues should not be a factor in the local government elections. Instead, he implored alliance members to focus on municipal matters.Speaking to the Sunday Times on the sidelines of the meeting, Makhura said the ANC would continue courting middle-class voters.The middle class is seen as a crucial swing vote in Gauteng.The ANC has held meetings with this constituency to persuade its members not to dump the party."We're winding up our work, we are ascertaining that nobody is undoing our work in areas where we have been. We are doing endorsements and high-profile visits, so we're satisfied with the work we have done in this campaign," he said.Joblessness, service delivery, housing, and crime were the main issues raised by Gauteng voters.Makhura said this year's election campaign had been the most challenging for him, partly because the ANC had finalised its ward candidate lists late. "That overburdens, it put lots of pressure because instead of dealing with communities, you're dealing with those who are not happy with candidate X. But also there was something unique that we have seen in this campaign - the number of ANC candidates who were killed. It's not [normal], " he said.ANC veterans Tokyo Sexwale and Mavusi Msimang, who have publicly denounced Zuma's leadership, joined the campaign trail in Soweto yesterday. They said they needed to help it woo voters because the ANC was bigger than individuals.In an address to supporters in Thokoza Park, Msimang attacked opposition parties for using Nelson Mandela's name in their campaigns, saying they did not care about him when we was jailed by the apartheid regime...