“The main boss, the big man of the place is here,” yelled Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday, serving as hype-man for President Jacob Zuma’s address to a hall in Elsies River. “Mr President, here are your people!”

Photo: President Zuma listens as Police Minister Fikile Mbalula addresses the Elsies River crowd. (Shaun Swingler)

Elsies River, on the Cape Flats, is a Democratic Alliance stronghold. In last year’s municipal elections, the DA won well over 80% of votes. With this context in mind, the area might seem a daunting choice at which to stage an event featuring not just President Jacob Zuma, but a number of high-profile Cabinet ministers.

When the president took the stage at the Adriaanse Community Centre on Tuesday, he was flanked by Mbalula, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, several deputy ministers and the head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Shaun Abrahams.

Photo: Ministhe of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu and President Zuma exchange comments while members of the Elsies River community air their grievances. (Shaun Swingler)

With President Zuma receiving an increasingly hostile reception at a good few events recently, there must have been some apprehension as to how he and his colleagues would be greeted by the residents of Elsies River. As it turned out, such concerns were unnecessary. A packed hall greeted the president and his Cabinet members with cheers and chants of “Zuma!” For a few hours, it must have felt to Zuma like the good old days.

Photo: An ANC supporter sings the national anthem. (Shaun Swingler)

The rape and murder of three-year-old Courtney Pieters in Elsies River appears to have struck the president deeply. This was his second visit to the community within two weeks. On his first appearance, he promised money and a house to Pieters’ family, and pledged to return to hear more concerns from the community about crime.

“When I came and I heard the details of what happened, I was shocked,” said Zuma. The president related what Pieters’ father had told him about his daughter’s ordeal: “[The murderer] broke every bone of my child in order to squeeze her into a plastic bag.” The crowd groaned with horror.

After having been told on his last visit that the police response to Pieters’ disappearance was inadequate, Zuma had visited the local police station to hear the perspective of law enforcement on the matter. “They have briefed me,” he said. “They believe there was a lot of exaggeration. They reacted immediately.”

Even this statement – which might have been expected to be met with cynicism from the audience – was greeted with respect. President Zuma explained that he had brought along government departments dealing with crime-related matters to hear from the community.

“Scores of children die and go missing every year at the hands of community members,” Zuma continued. “We are thinking of all these children today as we mark Child Protection Week in this country. We have come to Elsies River to express our outrage at the scourge which afflicts our society. Enough is enough!”

Zuma reiterated a decision taken at the ANC’s weekend NEC meeting that ANC branches must set up Village Committees and Street Committees to “clean our areas of criminals”. He warned against criminals winning the trust of communities by offering money in times of difficulty, and said he was looking forward to hearing the views of Elsies River residents.

“I said: ‘Don’t worry, I am coming back,’” Zuma concluded. “And I have come back.”

Speakers addressing the president and his colleagues on behalf of the Elsies River community did not hold back in expressing their concerns, but did so largely without personal political criticism.

A Khoi-San chief begged the president to free the Western Cape “from the demonic spirit which hangs over us since 1652”, and added: “We are blessed to have a president like this, despite our political differences.” There were cries of “Yes!” from the audience.

Community Policing Forum deputy chairperson Imraahn Mukaddam made his point rather more forcefully, saying that it had taken the death of Courtney Pieters to draw government’s attention to long-standing crime issues in the area. “We have been suffering for a very long time, but our cry was not heard,” Mukaddam said.

To resounding applause, Mukaddam appealed: “Mr President, we don’t need more police, we need more social workers. We need more houses!” He added that the president should have brought along the Minister of Labour, because “we need more jobs!”.

DA ward councillor Franchesca Walker was subjected to some of the only boos of the day when beginning to speak. Walker’s ward played host earlier this month to a gang shooting in Leonsdale which saw four people killed and 10 injured. She took the opposite tack to Mukaddam, pleading for more detectives in the area. Another member of the Community Policing Forum claimed, however, that many police were acting in collaboration with local gangsters, with detectives pressuring people not to open criminal cases. Shouts of agreement greeted his contribution.

President Zuma listened to the speakers while occasionally conferring with Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who was taking notes. When the engagement session was opened up to the audience, one man ranted about Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s “by-laws”, which he said were strangling business development. The ANC and its governing figures were, however, spared specific criticism.

Fittingly for a man who recently joked that stress was a white man’s affliction, President Zuma appeared largely at ease. Opening his address, he spoke off-the-cuff about his struggles with the Afrikaans language, saying: “My Afrikaans is not just bad. It’s not jumping, it’s crawling.”

To make the point, Zuma told a story about being arrested for his political activities during apartheid, and the prison warder demanding: “K****r, waar is jou kaartjie?” [Where is your pass?] The president explained that he thought the warden was demanding to know why he was not wearing khaki.

It was a clever anecdote: serving to make self-deprecating fun of his linguistic troubles, but simultaneously reminding the audience of the humiliations of apartheid and Jacob Zuma’s role in bringing down that system.

On Tuesday, listening attentively to the concerns of ordinary people, Zuma appeared presidential in a way that he hasn’t for a long time. The whole affair may have been a well-staged piece of political theatre – but it was also a reminder not to write this “man of the people” off too soon. DM

Main photo: President Zuma addresses the packed community hall in Elsies River (Shaun Swingler)