The deployment of ANC heavyweights to the rural municipality of Nquthu had one man so vexed that he asked party treasurer general Zweli Mkhize to remove his hat because he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Mkhize‚ along with ANC chair Baleka Mbete and secretary general Gwede Mantashe went door-to-door in the frigid farmland on Saturday‚ wooing voters in the run up to by-elections on May 24.

“I just wanted to make sure that you are the Khabazela [Mkhize’s clan name] that I see everyday on my TV screen. And yes I am going to vote for change In my area‚” 58-year-old Bongani Hadebe said.

Nquthu‚ in the province’s central highland‚ is only municipality that has been unable to elect a mayor since August last year.

The hung council could swing the balance of power in the Umzinyathi district‚ and is thus of critical political importance.

Mkhize and his entourage of volunteers made stop after stop in the searing cold‚ handing ANC pamphlets to prospective voters.

Another elderly woman‚ huddled in a blanket on the concrete floor of her hut‚ jokingly admonished Mkhize for not bringing her a party shirt‚ because he could see how cold it was.

At a public meeting‚ he said that the party needed support to take the majority in the council.

“We ask you to vote for the ANC and increase the chances of the ruling party to lead this ward. Without you there is no government here‚” he said.

While addressing local challenges‚ Mkhize also touched on factionalism in the party.

He said that uniting a party which had brought about liberation was of paramount importance.

“ANC is the party that brought freedom and change in this country. We don’t want leadership of nepotism but leadership that is for the people and provides for all the people not certain individuals‚” he said.

The area has been on tenterhooks after the stabbing to death of ANC activist Siphamandla Ngobese in the Ohaleni area following his return from a rally led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa a fortnight ago.