‘Delusional’: MK party, analysts say ANC can’t win majority in KZN

The ANC’s confidence in reclaiming outright control of eThekwini has been challenged by both the MK party and political commentators. Picture: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen Though ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is confident the ANC will single-handedly win the Ethekwini metro in the November elections and govern without a coalition, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party says the ANC is delusional. But the ANC is adamant that it will govern eThekwini with an outright majority after the 4 November local government elections.

Addressing an ANC election volunteers assembly in Durban on Sunday, Mbalula said the ANC would not need a coalition partnership, adding that the party is tired of co-governing with its rivals. TheANC support base in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was erodedby the emergence of Jacob Zuma’s MK party, the majority party in the province. MK was outsmarted by a minority coalition comprising the IFP, DA, ANC and National Freedom Party, which took power after the 2024 national elections.

The ANC lost its sole control of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay after the 2021 local government elections to DA-led minoritycoalitionsand never recovered. MK national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said the ANC is being delusional to imagine an absolute victory in Ethekwini, or any metro in South Africa. “It is the delusion of being an illegal and unelected government in KZN.

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This is the delusion that comes with a 114-year-old party that now governs everything through a coalition. The days of the ANC’s majority power are gladly over and nothing can save them. The people of KZN want MK and with time, the ANC will accept this,” Mahlangu said.

Analysts also disagreed with Mbalula’s prediction, saying the ANC’s chances of winning an outright majority are improbable. Independent political economy analyst Sandile Swana said no political party in South Africa would secure an outright majority as “the days of one-party dominance are over”.

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