The African National Congress will be ending its 2009 election campaign with a massive rally in Johannesburg on Sunday 19 April.
Over 120,000 people are expected to fill Coca-Cola Park and Johannesburg Stadium in the Ellis Park precinct. The rally, the largest ever held in a South African election, will take place in the two adjacent stadiums simultaneously. It will also be broadcast live via satellite to centres in the eight other provinces.
The highlight of the rally will be a final call to vote by ANC President Jacob Zuma. In an address to the nation, Zuma will reiterate the ANC's message that, working together, South Africans will be able to build on the achievements of the last 15 years and accelerate the improvement of people's lives. He will call on all South Africans to exercise their democratic right to vote on 22 April, and to determine the direction the country will take into the future.
The rally is the culmination of an intensive election campaign that has seen ANC leaders and volunteers covering every part of the country to visit every household and meet every voter. Over the course of this three-month campaign, the ANC has taken its manifesto plans to most communities and sectors. It has discussed people's concerns and aspirations with them, and has asked them to be part of identifying and implementing solutions.
Alongside this extensive campaign of direct voter contact, the ANC has run a major media campaign to convey its message and engage South Africans in real debate. It has produced posters, pamphlets, booklets, t-shirts and other material. It has advertised using billboards, radio, newspapers and, for the first time, television. It has also taken its campaign online, using social networks to debate the key issues of this campaign.
From this interaction with voters it is clear that support for the ANC is undiminished. People recognise the achievements of the last 15 years. They are also clear about the problems they still face on a daily basis. These include problems of access to basic services, crime, poverty, unemployment, corruption and lack of accountability among public representatives and public servants.
People expect the ANC to address these problems because they know the ANC listens to them and has the capacity and commitment to improve their lives. People are prepared to work with the ANC to achieve the kind of future they want.
This election is essentially about what party has the best programme and the means to improve people's lives. Other parties have tried very hard to make this election about individuals and personalities. But the people are interested in jobs, houses, safe streets, an end to corruption. The ANC has conducted a positive campaign throughout. It has focused on the issues and the challenges facing our people. It has not followed other parties in trying to vilify, demonise or ridicule individual leaders. The feedback we have received is that people appreciate the ANC's approach.
The ANC therefore enters the final week of this election campaign confident that South Africans will turn out in large numbers to vote, and will give the ANC a decisive mandate for the next five years.
We are not complacent, however. We know that elections are only won on election day. We are therefore mobilising all ANC leaders, public representatives, candidates, members, volunteers and supporters behind a final push to get every voter to cast their ballot for the ANC.
The Siyanqoba rally is part of this mobilisation effort, sending a clear signal that the ANC is ready to win a clear and decisive majority on 22 April. It will send a signal that the ANC is the people's movement, determined and able to meet the needs of the people and advance their interests.
The rally starts at 9am on Sunday 19 April at Coca-Cola Park (formerly known as Ellis Park) and the Johannesburg Stadium. It will include a live music programme that will feature a number of prominent artists.
The rally will be broadcast live via satellite to the following centres:
Eastern Cape: Dampi Adams Sports Field, Queenstown
Free State: Charles Mopeli Stadium, Qwaqwa
KwaZulu Natal: Edgewood College Sports Ground, Ethekwini
Limpopo: Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
Mpumalanga: Kanyamazane Stadium, Nelspruit
North West: Montshioa Stadium, Mafikeng
Northern Cape: Galeshewe Stadium, Kimberley
Western Cape: Nyanga Stadium, Cape Town
viva la ANC 
