THE ANC kicked off its campaign to wrest control of Western Cape from the DA, with President Jacob Zuma addressing various communities in the province at the weekend.

The party said it was pulling out all the stops to "ensure a resounding success" in its commemoration of the 20th anniversary celebrations of former president Nelson Mandela from political prison.

Leadership wrangling between African and coloured ANC leaders in the province has resulted in party secretary Gwede Mantashe putting a task team in place to investigate ways of strengthening the organisation. The DA took 51,46percent of the Western Cape vote last year while the ANC sank to 31,55percent.

Mantashe also blamed Cosatu and SA Communist Party members for voting for the DA. "If you look at African areas in Western Cape, our support has been constant in most areas and increased marginally in others, but in coloured areas, our support has been cut by half."

Zuma and Mantashe will today address a meeting of the ruling party's national working committee meeting in Western Cape.