African National Congress National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe says he is shocked by the Umkhonto We Sizwe party’s strong support among voters in KwaZulu-Natal. The Independent Electoral Commission’s dash board after just 7% of the votes counted in KZN showed that the MK party, which is led by former President Jacob Zuma, was the leading party in the province with 41.77 % (or 56,931votes).
The ANC followed second with 21.06 % (or 28, 699 votes), the IFP was third with 17.08% (23,277 votes) of the vote and the DA was a close fourth with 13.46% (18,342 votes) while the EFF was distant fifth with 2.28% (3,109 votes). “MK is doing well in KZN, they have surprised me, but I am not expecting the same in other provinces,” he said speaking to journalists at the Results Operations. Mantashe blamed journalists, saying they have contributed to the ANC’s decline. He accused one of the TV news stations of punting “vote for change” headlines all afternoon on election day. “When journalists do that, they seize to be journalists, they become pundits,” said Mantashe. “We are going to swim against that stream, we are streaming against it and we are going to be successful,” he said. (IOL News)
It is not good that Mantashe is blaming the Media for the losses the ANC has suffered. The ruling party has long been known to have dithered over key reforms in government. Ramaphosa failed to put together a plan to improve the economy and bring about social justice. The fact that MK was able to ride massive support in KZN due to having the endorsement of President Jacob Zuma and become a King Maker party in what is going to be a hung Parliament is impressive. But apart from having the support of a disgraced president who is still a member of the ruling party, MK remains an unknown entity. What do they stand for? What policies do they want to implement? These are questions that need to be answered. Mantashe for his part needs to acknowledge that the ANC has to look to itself for self-reflection.
He (Mantashe) added that they would develop a strategy to deal with the “threat” of MK. The MK’s Chief of staff Lei Mchunu, said they were excited about the results so far in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). MK is six months old as a registered political party and is leading the province in terms of numbers. “We are happy, excited to see the numbers on the board. Here we are talking about the MK that is six months old. What you see here is very amazing. “We are very happy, excited to see the numbers on the board. Here we are talking about the MK that is six months old. What you see here is very amazing.”
The ANC is already to late in dealing with the “threat” of the MK and Zuma. With the number of votes obtained by MK, the party has lodged itself in a position of permanent bitterness against the ANC. They (MK) would not be in this position without the endorsement and support of Zuma. As a former president he still commands massive support at least with in KZN itself. It is natural for Mchunu to be thrilled about the number of votes his party has mustered. It could lead to them determining the formation of the next government. At best if the plans do not go well the “hung” parliament could be dissolved and snap elections could be called for. But this is at best a worse case scenario.
ANC support has plummeted to about 40%.
South Africans angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages have slashed support for the African National Congress (ANC) to 40% in this week’s election, ending three decades of dominance by the party that freed the country from apartheid. A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from 57.5% it got in the previous 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep it – an unprecedented prospect. “We can talk to everybody and anybody,” Gwede Mantashe, the ANC chair and current mines and energy minister, told reporters in comments carried by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), dodging a question about who the party was discussing a possible coalition deal with. (the sun.my)
In a fragmented parliament it will be hard to say who the ANC will form a coalition with. Ideologically the ANC and MK are both black nationalist organization parties. So, they might see eye to eye on most political matters. The ANC is also a left-wing organization. That means a coalition with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is another case in point for the party. However, it will be difficult to agree on government policy given how radical the EFF is. Nationalizing the Mines and expropriating land without compensation will not work well. Possible bankruptcy for the nation. This leaves the Democratic Alliance to reason with. The ANC also has a centrist-neoliberal element in its ranks due to its “Broad church” there might be consensus on policy and President Cyril Ramaphosa might stay, if he solves his own legal problems.
The talks in the coming weeks will make it interesting times.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
