Election 2024: The fight for KZN
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are thorny issues for the ANC ahead of the 2024 elections.
In the 2019 national elections, the party won 53.19% of the vote in Gauteng. In 2019, it was 50.19%. In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC won 64.52% of the vote in 2014, but this fell to just 55% in 2019.
Gauteng may have the largest voting population, but the ANC has no choice but to use KwaZulu-Natal as its next election battleground. The province was the ANC's strongest in terms of party structure, but if it lost another 10% of the vote, as happened in 2019, the party would lose its majority.
But convincing voters in KwaZulu-Natal will be difficult.
First, the ANC is addressing the province's water, electricity and sanitation crisis. Something that hasn't been well received by potential voters.
Another problem for the ANC is the return of Jacob Zuma, who turned his back on the party and offered support to the uMkhonto weSizwe party instead.
The ANC likes to say it's cold outside, but recent by-elections and opinion polls suggest the ruling party feels KwaZulu-Natal is a cold place without Zuma.
In an effort to change the narrative that the ANC has lost face in the province, the party has chosen to hold its manifesto launch later this month at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
This was also the venue for the presentation of the Economic Freedom Fighters' manifesto last weekend. The same stadium will be the venue for the Inkatha Freedom Party, still reeling from the death of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, to release its manifesto in March.
This week's Friday Briefing examines why the three parties have chosen KwaZulu-Natal as a battleground and whether the MK party intends to influence their plans in a bid to woo voters.
There is a contribution from Professor Maksevisi Ndretyana of the University of Johannesburg. He plans to collapse the ANC in the state, especially after Mr Zuma disowned the party.
News24's political reporter Soiso Mariti, based in Durban, looks at the impact of the rise of the MK party, as well as the rise in political violence in the province.
Professor Bheki Mgomezulu from Nelson Mandela University reflects on the various reasons why the three political parties chose KwaZulu-Natal as their campaign base.
He said the opposition could smell ANC blood in these coastal waters while the ANC is looking to shore up support given its gradual loss of support in Gauteng. writes.
We hope that the three submissions give you a better understanding of how important KwaZulu and Natal are to this election.
The best,
Vanessa Bunton
Opinion editor.