All parties vying for small municipality of Nquthu
Nquthu‚ in the rural north of KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the country’s most impoverished; this week the DA is there and the president will be there on Sunday
Fungile Mbatha cuts a lonely figure as she sits inside her small home in Nquthu‚ in the rural north of KwaZulu-Natal. Her family has‚ for the most part‚ moved away and she’s largely left to fend for herself. But the 73-year-old’s biggest concern‚ she told DA leader Mmusi Maimane as he met her during a door-to-door campaign on Wednesday‚ is the pain in her jaw. "I’m dying of toothache‚" she said to a nodding Maimane‚ who appeared at a loss for words. Mbatha lives with her daughter‚ Nokuthula‚ who is a DA activist. "My children don’t live here; they are in Johannesburg. I only survive on a pension grant‚" she said‚ holding Maimane’s hand. "All I can say is God bless you." It was this picture of poverty and unemployment that stared Maimane in the face when he campaigned in Nquthu ahead of a crucial by-election next week. He visited several households on his door-to-door campaign. Before meeting with Mbatha‚ Maimane went to the Mathabela household. As with so many of the families in the...
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