Local council leader John Steenhuisen with provincial council leader Francois Rogers in the background during door-to-door campaigning in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday. Photo: Democratic Alliance
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen believes KwaZulu-Natal is “wide open” and his party will be the leader of the province's coalition government after national and provincial elections on May 29. I think it will emerge as a.
Steenhuisen wrapped up his election campaign in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday with a series of public meetings and house-to-house visits in the key northern and western wards of Thekweni Municipality.
Mr Steenhuisen, who was accompanied by DA provincial leader Francois Rogers and premiership candidate Chris Pappas, first met people in Ntuzuma, where the party has a large branch, before going door-to-door in the suburb of Reservoir Hills.
Steenhuisen met with residents affected by high crime levels, power and water outages, as well as business people in the 43rd Ward, which falls under the police department's jurisdiction.
He said he believed KwaZulu-Natal was now a “big mess” with the emergence of the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party which had “eaten away” the ANC's organisation and support base.
Mr Steenhuisen said this would create a “clear pathway for the parties in South Africa's multiparty charter – the coalition government of the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and others]to be able to start talking about forming a majority after the elections”. said.
He said no party would win a clear majority in the election in the province and “a coalition government will be formed in KwaZulu-Natal”.
“I am confident that the DA will play a key role in any coalition government,” he said, adding: “We hope to emerge as the largest party in the state.”
He said the DA had a “good chance” to replace the ANC as the province's largest party, with a strong party structure, growing support and an “outstanding” prime ministerial candidate in Pappas, adding: “This was the first time in 2016. This is the first election,” he added. Thirty years in which the outcome is not predetermined. That should excite us all. ”
The DA hopes to win enough votes in Durban to establish the party as a “core majority” in the province, and the party's vote share is already between 18% and 22%, figures the party is “comfortable” with, Steenhuisen said.
A vote share of more than 20 percent would put the party in a relatively strong position to negotiate a coalition government, and the DA sees this as a “growth election” in which it hopes to increase its vote share and expand its role after the election.
The DA and IFP have taken 12 constituencies from the ANC in the KwaZulu-Natal by-election since the November 2021 local elections, and are seeking to oust the ruling party, which won 55.47% of the vote in the province in 2019. I want it.
Steenhausen said campaigning had been intense but there were still seven days left and urged DA volunteers to keep working until Election Day.
“We're in the final stages now and there's a lot of work to do on the ground,” he said.
Pappas said the focus over the next week will be on “making sure everyone gets out to vote on Election Day.”
“The prosecutor's office is strong in elections. We are united and ready,” he said.
“The prospects for the Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal are bright. We are confident that we will grow and that a coalition government will be formed after May 29th. We want to be part of that government and we are working towards that. There is.”
Pappas said he was “very pleased that peace has continued in KwaZulu-Natal” with no incidents of political violence or intolerance, and said political parties and their supporters had shown “a certain maturity”.