The African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of the People (COPE) have been girding themselves specifically for the coming election for weeks now. And while the divisions, political and otherwise, in the ANC created factions at least as far back as the run-up to Polokwane in December 2007, the parties are gearing themselves up in earnest for the stretch run. South African politics is in full on elections mode.
And some of the more visible opposition parties want to make clear that the 2009 election will not only not be a one-party show (COPE, which one supporter this week described as being “more like the ANC that my father joined,” has made sure of that) but that they too are in the fight against botht he ANC and the upstarts from COPE. Thus the Democratic Alliance and its leader Helen Zille this week slammed both the ANC, which was predictable, and COPE, which was not, given that the two parties seemed poised to ally to take on the more established and still most formidable ANC. Inkatha Freedom Party's (IFP) Mangosutho Buthelezi too blasted the ANC (leaving CORE alone, for now) waking from what has seemed a rather somnolent state for Inkatha's monomaniacal leader.
It should be a fun few months for observers of the South African political scene. Let the Games Begin!