On an overcast Saturday in the town of eSikhawini in northern KwaZulu-Natal, a crowd of ANC supporters gathered on the sports fields of a local college to await the arrival of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

With only a few days to go till the commencement of voting in the 2019 general elections, the ANC was taking no chances in the province which accounts for just above 20% of all registered voters in the country. Ramaphosa would make three separate appearances in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.

The president kicked off his morning in a suit and tie at the 2019 Africa Travel Indaba in Durban, where he was every inch the suave businessman convincing investors that their money would be well spent in South Africa. Just over two hours later, Ramaphosa had changed into a more man-of-the-people ANC leather jacket to woo the voters of eSikhawini, and from there he would take his roadshow to the sugarcane heartland of oThongathi.

In eSikhawini, 85-year-old Lena Dube hovered anxiously by the security fence buttressing the stage where Ramaphosa would soon appear. She was desperate to catch the president’s eye with a personal appeal.

“I got on the ANC bus today from Nseleni to ask the president to build me a house,” Dube told Daily Maverick in isiZulu.

“I don’t have a house, even in my old age. I could die today and not know where I would be buried. I’m alone.”

But Dube would leave the rally unsuccessful. Ramaphosa’s schedule left no time for personal interactions, and the president would be whisked away by security while Dube waved her crutch helplessly in his direction.

In the course of a 20-minute address to the eSikhawini crowd, however, Ramaphosa would seek to convince the Gogo Dubes of the audience that the ANC had made great strides in meeting their needs over the past 25 years.

“I once spoke to a president from another country and I asked him whether they build houses for their citizens. He said yes they do, but they sell them to the public,” Ramaphosa said, speaking in isiZulu.

“Since 1994, the ANC has built four million houses, houses which we give our people for free.”

The president urged the crowd to consider everything the ANC had achieved since democracy.

“When we speak to people, they are grateful. Grateful that the ANC has changed their lives,” he said.

But Ramaphosa acknowledged that more needed to be done, promising the people of KwaZulu-Natal that more jobs would come their way after 8 May 2019 — when foreign investors would be further convinced of the Ramaphosa administration’s popular support.

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses supporters at a rally at a college in Esikhawini, KwaZulu-Natal, on 4 May 2019. Photo: Aisha Abdool Karim

“After the elections, the number of investors will increase, because you would have voted for the ANC to return to power,” he said. “Their faith in us will increase.”

Ramaphosa had the crowd chuckling when he told the story of an elderly woman who was so proud of her state-sponsored house that she insisted the president accompany her into her bedroom, despite his protestations that it might seem inappropriate.

But though the president’s reception was warm and respectful, there was a certain lacklustre spirit to the affair. Indeed, the audience noticeably perked up when Ramaphosa was replaced on stage by the sounds of Durban’s Gqom music duo, the Distruction Boyz.

Asked what she thought of Ramaphosa’s address, eSikhawini local Zinhle Magwaza, 41, shrugged.

“He’s a good president. I have no issue with him,” Magwaza told Daily Maverick.

“But Zuma was the best. He was a loveable guy with a friendly nature. He was igagu (a gifted singer and performer). He was also very in touch with the ordinary person’s needs. Compared to Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma had many supporters. Personally, I miss him a lot.”

A day later, just how much many residents of KwaZulu-Natal seem to miss the former president was made abundantly clear at the ANC’s closing rally in Pietermaritzburg.

Although Zuma had not originally been billed as attending the event, the announcement by KwaZulu-Natal chair Sihle Zikalala that Zuma would indeed be arriving sent the previously lukewarm crowd into a frenzy, with cries of “Zuma! Zuma!” echoing around the stadium while other speakers battled to make themselves heard.

When the former president took the microphone, it was to a hero’s welcome.

Amid persistent rumours that he is plotting to undermine the administration of Ramaphosa, Zuma was at pains to tell the crowd that he was present in an informal capacity.

“The leaders have spoken here in the province and at national level,” Zuma said in isiZulu. “My job here is just to greet you.”

Zuma said little of substance, merely warning his audience that a vote for a party other than the ANC was a vote wasted.

“I’ve heard others say they will win the election. Those are daydreamers,” he said.

“The ANC is an organisation which will fight for freedom, that will improve people’s lives. The ANC has proved that it can run a nation; we’ve done so for the past 25 years. You can’t vote for a party that hasn’t proven itself. Be careful with your vote.”

But what he said seemed less important to the thousands gathered at the Pietermaritzburg rally than the mere fact of his presence. Zuma knew what the people wanted, and he gave it to them.

Upon concluding his remarks, he launched into back-to-back renditions of the two songs with which he is most closely associated — Yinde Lendlela and Umshini Wam’ — to a rapturous response from his audience.

For a moment, it was as if Zuma had never stopped being president — and the ANC faithful gathered at Wadley Stadium seemed just fine with that. DM