DURBAN - THE ANC’s blunder in handling the issue of the Zulu king’s successor and former president Jacob Zuma’s arrest, which then led to the unrest and looting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, were some of the key reasons voters punished the party in the province by not voting for them, political analysts said.
Although vote-counting was still continuing at the time of publication, the picture of which municipalities were slipping away from the party to the IFP was becoming clearer.
In areas where the ANC was leading, it was unconvincing and there were possibilities that it would need a coalition to keep those municipalities.
Political analysts Dr Ralph Mathegka and Thabani Khumalo both agreed that the way the ANC handled the Zulu king’s succession issue, as well as Zuma’s arrest, cost it dearly. They said ANC supporters may not have voted for the IFP but rather withheld their votes to punish the party.
Khumalo said voters were angry with the ANC because of corruption, poor service delivery and lack of leadership, and that the party’s refusal to recognise Prince Misuzulu as king angered Zulus.
“The ANC could have used its muscle as the ruling party to physically get involved in organising King Goodwill Zwelithini’s funeral and take centre stage as well as managing the succession plan. That would have appeased loyal Zulus. By not playing a major role in managing the succession issue, the party gave away the crucial platform to prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to shine and Zulu loyalists rewarded him by voting for his party,” Khumalo said.
“The ANC slept on duty. They gave away the crucial platform to Buthelezi who drew a lot of praise from people who hailed him for standing up for their kingdom during a difficult period of losing the king and queen regent in a short space of time. Buthelezi showed that he cared for the Zulu nation more than anyone else. The ANC leadership in the province should have known how loyal Zulus are to the king and the kingdom but they decided to go against that loyalty by showing that they did not recognise Prince Misuzulu,” he said.
Further, he felt the ANC shot itself in the foot by labelling Indians in Phoenix as racist, adding that the party could have tried to isolate criminals and not paint everyone with the same brush.
Concurring with Khumalo on the Zulu king issue, Mathekga said the ANC made Buthelezi look like a statesman by allowing him to handle the issue alone. He said Buthelezi shone during both platforms of King Zwelithini and Queen Mantfombi, and Zulus were impressed with his work.
“The IFP seeing that Buthelezi’s popularity had increased among Zulus, they took a correct gamble by making him the face of the election which is now paying dividends. KwaZulu-Natal was the epicentre of the ANC’s internal problems and the province resisted the most and defied national leadership,“ he said.
Mathekga added that the ANC could have done more to fix internal issues.
“The party forgot the Zuma factor. They forgot that in 2009 Zulus voted in big numbers just to get him to the presidency. His arrest and treatment by the party angered many and they decided not to vote instead of voting for other parties.”
ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said although the party would take stock after the election, it noted that in the municipalities across the Tugela River, the picture was not looking good.
IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party was very happy with its performance thus far. He said it was due to their hard work since 2016, and winning by-elections. He added that the party’s decision to use Buthelezi as the face of their election campaign was well understood by their supporters, saying only the media moaned about it.
The DA also appeared to have benefited from ANC losses, securing wards in Phoenix and Chatsworth. The ANC had won ward 72 in Chatsworth and ward 52 in Phoenix, which included Bambayi and Brookdale Farm informal settlements.
DA provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson said contrary to what people were saying, the party had done well in eThekwini.
Municipalities that appear to have slipped from the ANC’s control include Alfred Duma (Ladysmith), Okhahlamba (Bergville), Danhauser, Abaqulusi (Vryheid), eDumbe (Paulpietersburg), Mtubatuba, Umfolozi, inkosi Langalibalele (Estcourt) and Umngeni (Howick).
Daily News