Despite equivocation by its provincial leaders, it is clear the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is trying to delay the local government elections, reports Ann Eveleth
THE African National Congress’s effective call this week to delay KwaZulu-Natal’s local government elections masks serious concerns about the outcome of the poll under current conditions.
Motivating for a postponement in a 10-page memorandum to Provincial and Constitutional Affairs Minister Chris Fismer and his deputy Mohammed Valli Moosa this week, the provincial branch of the ANC, led by Jacob Zuma, pointed to “very serious problems” with voter and candidate registration, as well as a lack of free political activity, and political violence.
While party leaders danced around the question of whether they had in fact called for a postponement, the conclusion was clear: “The ANC currently does not see May 29 1996 as a realistic target which could be met.”
Most other provincial parties agreed there were problems, but rejected the postponement call. This was supported by Election Task Group co-chair Van Zyl Slabbert, who agreed the province had “serious political problems”, but argued that the poll should nevertheless go ahead as preparations were too far advanced and delays would not necessarily improve the situation.
Valli Moosa’s representative Mpho Mosimane suggested central government was also disinclined to delay the poll. “The deputy minister feels that although the concerns are genuine, there is no real need for a postponement as other processes could be set in motion to deal with the problems.” He said the ministry had asked for a meeting with President Nelson Mandela this week, after which the matter could be tabled before Cabinet.
Only the Pan Africanist Congress supported the ANC’s call. Having failed to register any candidates for the Durban Metropolitan Council after its election officer missed the registration deadline by a matter of minutes, the party has clear motivation to delay the poll.
Observers say the ANC call reflects a fear in the party that defeat is looming. ANC provincial local government spokesperson Mike Sutcliffe denied the party was in trouble, arguing that it is “at its strongest point in the province in four or five years”.
The incidents cited by the party’s memorandum, however, suggest that conditions for an ANC victory have not improved — and may even have worsened in some areas — since the 1994 general election.
The memorandum detailed problems and irregularities in rural areas which are controlled by IFP-aligned chiefs and in the Durban Metropolitan Council, where it faces a stiff challenge from the opposition despite its 1994 victory in the area.
The ANC’s distress centres on irregularities in some of its erswhile strongholds. In Danganya and Umgababa — two ANC bastions on the periphery of Durban, the party claimed “over 80 percent of voters” had been excluded from the roll.
In rural areas, the ANC’s concern is that traditional leaders and “the reactionary Joint Services Boards (JSBs)” — the equivalent of former regional service councils in other provinces — have controlled all aspects of election preparations.
The ANC said chiefs in strife-torn Bulwer in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands had two weeks ago “bussed in armed impis who disprupted a meeting training election officials and chased them away. The amakhosi indicated they would be the ones to determine who is employed on election day.”
The announcement by security force representatives attending Wednesday’s meeting that extra police and soldiers would only be deployed in the province between May 14 and June 4 has added fuel to longstanding complaints by the ANC’s provincial members. Arguing that political violence had continued unabated in most rural areas of the province, they said it was “not sufficient for the SANDF and SAPS to simply give an assurance that they are able to secure polling stations on the day of elections” as this would not ensure free political activity in advance of the poll.
The ANC’s gamble could pay off if it invokes strong measures from central government to crack down on violence and repair the voters’ roll; however it risks sowing confusion among its own grassroots activists and supporters about its intention to fight the poll.