Bread giveaway deepens ANC image crisis

A single loaf per family has become a viral symbol of political missteps and growing public frustration with the ANC.

One of the undoubted talents of the ANC – apart from creative “firepool excuses, that is – is the ability to shoot itself in the foot, reputation-wise. And just when we thought.

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s “Let them shower in hotels” comment was the epitome of an out-of-touch elite, someone in the organisation came along to top that.

In an incident captured on video and widely circulated on social media, ANC volunteers can be seen with a tray of loaves of bread, handing them out to the community.

One of the volunteers can be heard saying: “We are here from the ANC, one loaf, one family, ANC is life, so one loaf means a lot.”

Unsurprisingly, there was a quick “it wasn’t us” response from the ANC Mpumalanga secretary, Muzi Chirwa, whose province was fingered as being the scene of the bread bribe.

ALSO READ: Lekota’s death unites ANC and Cope years after controversial Polokwane conference

He told us the ANC would normally not embark on a campaign to hand out bread; instead, they would hand out food parcels. “I do not think this is our province,” he said.

Chirwa said he had noted that there are already people using this circulating video to mock the ANC and party president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

“I saw that there is a T-shirt with a loaf of bread and the face of the president.”

Funny that…

There are some pertinent observations to be made from this latest PR disaster for the ANC, which is already losing the publicity war hands down against the DA and Helen Zille in Joburg, for example.

ALSO READ: One loaf, one vote? ANC under fire for controversial election campaign [VIDEO]

Firstly: are they so cash-strapped they can only afford to hand out one measly loaf of bread per family? What happened to the “better life for all” T-shirts for everybody?

But, mainly: people are desperate, jobless and hungry. (Thanks mainly to the ANC).

Will keeping their hunger at bay for a while translate into votes, though?

Support Local Journalism
Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.