The governing party has identified KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng as the battlegrounds for votes ahead of the elections. (Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
The ANC is taking its full might to campaign in KwaZulu-Natal this week in the hope of dismantling any chances its political foes might have of overturning its narrow majority in the province come election day.
The party has deployed its 80-member national executive committee to start the week-long campaign.
The ANC Veterans’ League, the ANC Women’s League, the ANC Youth League, the national committee of the uMkhonto weSizwe war veterans as well as the central committee of the South African Communist Party — a key ally of the ANC — are also participating in what has been defined as the party’s last push to secure votes in the province, which are necessary to retain its national majority.
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has identified KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng as the battlegrounds for votes in the 29 May elections.
Next week, the ANC is expected to take the high-level campaign to Gauteng, where it has already deployed stalwarts such as former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Mothlante, as well as former deputy president David Mabuza.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal jointly account for 44% of the country’s nearly 28 million registered voters. According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa, Gauteng has 6.5 million voters while KwaZulu-Natal has 5.7 million.
The two provinces are where the ANC is most vulnerable, with polls suggesting the party’s support will probably dip below 50%.
With the emergence of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party — regarded to have been the brainchild of former president Jacob Zuma — the ANC marshalled its veterans to put their differences aside and campaign for it.
According to Ipsos, the official formation of the MK party in December 2023 has disrupted the distribution of support among the leading political parties over the past few months. According to a poll released last week, the ANC would get 40.2% of the votes nationally, while the Democratic Alliance would get 21.9%, the Economic Freedom Fighters 11.5%, and the newcomers, MK party, 8.4%.
ANC veterans have been vocal about their frustration over allegations of corruption against its leaders, and the party has feared that their public statements might cost it votes.
Last year, former ANC veterans league deputy president Mavuso Msimang resigned, saying in a letter that the party’s track record of corruption was “a cause of great shame”, given that it once held the “moral high ground” when it took over the government in 1994. He later rescinded his resignation.
Mbeki had previously also expressed reservations on campaigning for the party, but has been called to do so following Zuma’s return to active politics.
On Sunday, Mbalula told journalists that the ANC’s campaign in KwaZulu-Natal had been positive so far.
“Of course with the MK party, others have defined it as a threat to the ANC. We have said to our members we must calm down, be peaceful and tolerant to everybody and thus far the campaign has been good in KZN. If we worry about the MK party, it means we will not campaign,” he said.
Mbalula said there had not been much violence emanating from political intolerance in the province recently and that where it had emerged, the security forces had dealt with it.
On Sunday, police intervened to break up a clash between members of the ANC and MK party in Olievenhoutbosch, Gauteng, during a door-to-door campaign.
There are fears of similar incidents in KwaZulu-Natal, where the MK party enjoys most of its support.
On Sunday, the ANC said it had decided to postpone Zuma’s disciplinary hearing, which had been scheduled for Tuesday at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters, over fears of violence between supporters of the ruling party and those of the MK party.
The ANC had last week summoned Zuma to appear before its disciplinary committee — with a possible expulsion on the way — saying his endorsement of the MK party and campaigning for it over the past few months contravened its rules.