The Zanu PF provincial leadership in Bulawayo believes the electorate in the province has given them the mandate to run the city and show voters what they are capable of doing.
In an interview yesterday, the Zanu PF Bulawayo provincial affairs spokesperson Archibold Chiponda told NewsDay that the opposition party has been taking the electorate for granted.
He accused members of the opposition movement in Bulawayo of failing to deliver services to the people.
Several councillors and legislators from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) were recalled by self-imposed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu.
The ruling Zanu PF party has taken advantage of the infighting in the CCC camp and won most of the council and parliamentary seats in Bulawayo during the by-elections held in December last year and early this month.
Some of the seats won by Zanu PF include Bulawayo South and Pelandaba-Tshabalala.
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“The opposition has been taking the electorate for granted for so long and it had become complacent. They had automatically assumed that people would just vote for them regardless of their ineptitude at delivering any form of meaningful service to the Bulawayo community.
“So it is inevitable the electorate has now sought new means with which to satisfy their needs and the means seem to be keeping faith in Zanu PF,” he said.
Chiponda said Zanu PF would use the mandate it was given to show the electorate what the party was capable of in terms of service delivery.
He said they expected a resounding victory from the recently held by-elections.
“We have been vindicated to a certain extent as a party. The numbers speak for themselves with regards to the Pelandaba-Tshabalala by-elections.
“While we can say the general turnout was low but the percentage of those who came out to vote for Zanu PF was resounding,” he said.
However, Tshabangu’s spokesperson Khaliphani Phungeni said despite fissures in the CCC, the opposition party would make an impact in Parliament.
“The SG (secretary-general) is going to Parliament. The havens will fall first before he can be stopped,” Phungeni said.