Publications
Partners
Election 2024: The fight for KZN
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are proving to be headaches for the ANC as it heads into the 2024 election.
In the 2019 national election, the party got 53.19% of the vote in Gauteng. In 2019, it got 50.19%. In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC got 64.52% of the vote in 2014. That dropped in 2019 to just 55%.
Gauteng may have the highest voting population, but the ANC doesn't have a choice but to use KwaZulu-Natal as its battleground in the upcoming election. It was the ANC's strongest province in terms of party structures, but if it loses another 10% of the vote, as happened in 2019, the party will lose its majority.
But it is going to find wooing voters in KwaZulu-Natal difficult.
In the first instance, the ANC is dealing with a water, electricity and sanitation crisis in the province. Something that is not going down well with potential voters.
The other problem for the ANC is the return of Jacob Zuma, who has turned his back on the party and has instead offered his support to the uMkhonto weSizwe party.
The ANC is fond of saying it is cold outside the party, but if recent by-elections and polls are anything to go by, the ruling party is finding KwaZulu-Natal a cold place without Zuma.
In an effort to change the narrative of an ANC losing face in the province, the party has chosen to hold its manifesto launch in Durban at the Moses Mabhida Stadium later this month.
This was also the scene for the Economic freedom Fighters' manifesto launch last weekend. The same stadium will play host to the Inkatha Freedom Party, which is still reeling from the death of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, when it launches its manifesto in March.
In this week's edition of Friday Briefing, we look at the significance of why three political parties have chosen KwaZulu-Natal as their battleground, and whether the MK Party is going to make a dent in their plans as they try to woo voters.
We have contributions from University of Johannesburg's Professor Mcebisi Ndletyana, who plots the fall of the ANC in the province, especially after Zuma disowned the party.
News24's political reporter in Durban, Soyiso Maliti, considers the impact of the rise of the MK Party, along with the increase in political violence in the province.
He writes that the ANC is seeking to consolidate its support in the light of gradually losing it in Gauteng, while the opposition can smell the ANC's blood in those coastal waters.
We hope the three submissions give you better insight into the importance that KwaZulu-Natal holds in these elections.
Best,
Vanessa Banton
Opinions editor.
Following the death of Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the changing fortunes of the ANC after Jacob Zuma disowned the party, Mcebisi Ndletyana writes we are on the cusp of witnessing a new, and third phase in KwaZulu-Natal since the country's democratic breakthrough.
MK Party's arrival shakes proverbial trees as political intolerance rears ugly head
Soyiso Maliti writes that there are two notable political developments in KwaZulu-Natal. One: former ANC president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto we Sizwe appears to be making inroads in the by-elections, Two: the political intolerance in the province is reaching a crescendo.
The rise of KZN as a prized jewel of the 2024 election battle
Bheki Mngomezulu considers six reasons KwaZulu-Natal is the chosen battleground for the ANC, IFP and EFF, which have all chosen to launch their election manifestos in the province, more specifically at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
