The ANC is adamant that it will get an overwhelming majority in eThekwini, the only metro in KwaZulu-Natal.
This despite the recent polling results by Ipsos putting the once governing party at the backfoot and predicting that its splinter party uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) will be the biggest in the metro after the November elections.
“The ANC is not focusing on other parties and we shall not focus on them. We’re focusing on ourselves and the people. The only people who will give us a vote or not give us a vote are the masses of our people and not surveys. But we can simply say that the ANC shall retain eThekwini and the ANC will be the biggest political party. We’re putting our best foot forward. You shall see as we approach the elections,” Mike Mabuyakhulu, the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial convener, told reporters on Thursday.
The ANC was addressing the media in Durban on a wide range of issues ahead of the November municipal elections.
The Ipsos survey conducted between June and July puts former President Jacob Zuma’s party at 55% of the voter share in eThekwini metro, making it the leading party. The results reflect a dynamic political landscape in eThekwini, one of the biggest economies in the province. The MK party, although it has been confronted by leadership squabbles over the selection of councillor candidates ahead of the key elections, has surged in popular support. At the heart of the MK party’s strategy is the aggressive push of rhetoric on radical promises and positioning itself as the party of choice for the disillusioned voters.
The party will be contesting the municipal elections for the first time this year. In its maiden elections, the party dislodged the ANC and became the biggest party in the provincial legislature. It was however muscled out of potentially governing KZN after the ANC, DA, NFP and the IFP bandied together to form the provincial government of unity (GPU).
On the other hand, the ANC has been shedding power in the eThekwini and currently the party co-governs the metro with other parties.