Jacob Zuma's MK party is leading in KwaZulu-Natal. (Tebogo Letsie/City Press/Galo Images)
On the first day of vote counting on Thursday, there was visibly disappointment on faces at the South African Electoral Commission's (IEC) Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Durban.
In the brightly lit hall, politicians appeared disappointed either by the results or the slow pace of vote counting.
While some smaller parties were reluctant to attend, representatives of Umkhonto weSizwe (MKP) appeared to be walking in good spirits.
As election results began to trickle in on Thursday morning, it was clear that former president Jacob Zuma's party would win.
Asked to comment on the party's apparent dominance over other parties in the province, ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said it was “premature” to say.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC leaders were not present.
Read | MK will not form coalition with ANC, says Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla
This is despite provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo telling News24 last year that about 4,000 activists in eThekwini had contributed to the party's victory and would travel to the ROC in person to observe the results.
Despite predictions that the ANC would lose in the province, party leader Cyril Ramaphosa told a packed FNB Stadium at the party's rally in Siyankoba that he expected a “70-plus per cent” vote share from KwaZulu-Natal.
Thursday marked the first day of vote counting after South Africans voted in the general election on Wednesday.
The formation of the MKP in December 2023 has shaken up the political landscape, posing a threat not only to the ANC but also to the EFF, IFP and DA.
As expected, the MKP is leading in KwaZulu-Natal, a province that is not in a position to back up its lead in 2019, when the ANC won a majority with 54.22%, followed by the IFP (16.34%), DA (13.9%) and EFF (9.71%).
The MKP, which may be one of the reasons why the ANC won the opposition seats in the province, said it was not a surprise to come out on top on the first day of results.
“We are pleased to be able to take this opportunity to work with the government,” said the party's KwaZulu-Natal policy chief Musa Mkhize.
We have been leading since December 16 last year. MK is a party of the people and has always been about the people and for the people. President Zuma is and will always be a party of the people and we are just following in his footsteps. We are on the ground and will continue to be.
Mkhize added that the party would not accept any coalition talks, especially from the ANC.
“People are speaking, they're voting, they're trusting [the] About umkhonto weSizwe [Party] And Nzamarara [Zuma],” He said.
Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial leader Francois Rogers also looked sad at the ROC, saying it was “too early” to make any decisions.
He said he was unhappy with the delay in counting the vote results in eThekwini constituency.
“We are particularly concerned by the delays in results in eThekwini. The IEC has not given us any answers. We have more questions than answers,” Rogers added.
“I think we'll understand better once the results are in. I don't think our polls were wrong at all. We were predicting the DA, IFP, MK Party and ANC and that's clearly what's happening.”
He said the Democratic Progressive Party (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal was expecting just under 40% for the MKP, 17% for the IFP and just over 20% for the ANC, with the ANC's vote share at around 3pm.
“We're still hopeful we can get to 19 percent ultimately,” Rogers added.
When News24 asked him if an IFP-DA coalition government was a pipe dream, as the MKP dominates key politicians in the state, he replied:
It certainly casts a whole new dynamic on what happens after the election, and I don't think we can speculate on how it's going to go forward until we see the results.
EFF provincial chairperson Mongezi Twala refused to answer questions about the MKP's seeming monopoly on the province.
In an earlier interview, Twala boldly told News24 that the EFF was aiming to win one million votes in KwaZulu-Natal, but by 8pm on Thursday the party had only managed just over 12,000 votes.
Twala was asked about the EFF's ambitions.
Read | 'No room for treason': EFF aims for 2 million votes in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal
He said: “So far so good. We've just heard news of very good results in eThekwini, Newcastle and other areas. We're still hopeful. It's still early days. We're still looking.” [for a] Growth trajectory. “
Commenting on the possibility of a coalition with the ANC or MKP, Twala said he would first need to gain a mandate from his party's supporters before forming a coalition, adding that he would only do so with “progressive forces who are united with the people”.
Earlier this year, the EFF expelled former member of parliament Vusi Khoza for failing to busse his constituents to rallies.
Twala denied that Khoza's dismissal had led to a sour election result, saying the election campaign was a collective effort.
He added:
Vusi Khoza cannot be in the EFF's 4,000 constituencies. We have full-fledged troops on the ground.
IFP executive director Siphoseth Ngcobo added that it was too early to comment on the figures because “anything can happen.”
“We will do better than what you are seeing, we expect the numbers to go up for sure, we have made northern KwaZulu-Natal safe,” he said.
Looking at the ANC's developments, Ngcobo said: “I always try to be cautious and steady but to be honest, we have to look at the situation. If they can beat us, we know we can beat them. We are currently fighting on equal terms.”
