ANC calls in pros to sing Zuma's praises

The ANC is stepping up its mobilisation of support for President Jacob Zuma and has roped in professional bodies to add their voices to the condemnation of the public protector's report on Nkandla.

The campaign is gaining momentum in Zuma's home province, KwaZulu-Natal, where a new grouping called the Concerned Lawyers and Educationists for Equality Before the Law has emerged to challenge Thuli Madonsela's report.

The ruling party has also held two massive "Hands Off Zuma" marches in Durban and Port Shepstone as a public show of support for the president ahead of the elections.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala said the marches are not just about defending Zuma, but also about the ANC as a political organisation.

"The support is not only for the president, but also for the ANC as a movement. There's been a serious offensive against the ANC ... that seeks to undermine the ANC. When people undermine the president, they do so to undermine the ANC. So the support the ANC is expressing is not about him as a individual, but the ANC as a collective," said Zikalala.

Prominent Durban lawyer Comfort Ngidi, who is also on the ANC list of candidates for parliament, is among those behind the concerned lawyers' grouping - which has challenged the validity of Madonsela's findings.

Although Zikalala distanced the ANC from organisations such as the "concerned lawyers", he admitted that they were members of the party. "They are members of the ANC who play a part in various entities and organisations in the community, but it does not mean that they are there on behalf of the ANC. What is happening is totally outside the control of the ANC. The ANC has not taken a decision to endorse [the grouping] or to reject it, because it is something not controlled by the ANC," he said.

South African Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande addressed an event organised by the lawyers in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.

According to ANC insiders, the mobilisation is part of the party's campaign to turn around public perceptions about Zuma's role in the Nkandla scandal.

The ANC will hold a "cadres forum" in the Durban City Hall today. It will be addressed by Zuma.

Yesterday, the Free State ANC organised a pro-Zuma rally at a stadium in Parys featuring popular celebrities and musicians.

ANC Youth League national convener Mzwandile Masina said the event, mostly attended by young people, was about showing how popular Zuma is among the youth. It was also aimed at challenging recent surveys that projected Zuma as unpopular among young people.

"We are showing you that young people love the ANC ," said Masina.

• ngalwas@sundaytimes.co.za