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The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal says it is confident of victory in the local government elections scheduled for November.
The party says it is working to regain control of municipalities it previously lost, including those it now co-governs.
Speaking at the ANC’s volunteer assembly in KwaDukuza in northern KZN, provincial convener Mike Mabuyakhulu says the party has a plan to restore its support base.
The ANC says it is focused on restoring confidence and improving its standing ahead of the polls. Speaking at the party’s volunteer assembly in KwaDukuza ahead of next month’s voter registration weekend, provincial convener Mike Mabuyakhulu says the reception the ANC is receiving on the ground shows that many people still believe in the party.
He urged volunteers to return to communities to listen to their concerns and expectations.
Mabuyakhulu said that come 4 November, the ANC would “mop the floor” with its political opponents, adding that victory was certain.
“You can see the momentum that our own campaign is in. We said way back last year that we have a plan, and we do have a plan, and we’re now executing our plan, and how the elections will turn out, I must say that the ANC is confident. First of all, we are confident in defending municipalities that were governed. Secondly, we’re also confident in winning municipalities where we are co-governing with other parties. But thirdly, we’re also confident in advancing to capture municipalities that have been totally lost”, says Mabuyakhulu.
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Mabuyakhulu has also urged South Africans, especially youngsters, to protect the country’s hard-won freedom by exercising their right to vote. He says freedom was achieved through sacrifice and bloodshed. He also encouraged ANC volunteers to take their responsibilities seriously by engaging communities, listening to people’s concerns, and educating citizens about democracy and the importance of voting.
“We are having this meeting that we call the Volunteers Assembly, where we are actually saying to all of our volunteers, ‘We want them to be amongst the people, to work with the people, but also to go to the people to ensure that all voters are registered in the first and foremost, but also that we also prepare for the open voter registration on the 20th and the 21st of June next month.’ But we say we do not want to wait for that date. We must actually be able to use the online voter registration because it takes only about three to four minutes, and then we are done,” says Mabuyakhulu.
One volunteer, Malungi Zulu, says the party has never been oblivious to the fact that it has made mistakes and corrects them. She says young people should not lose hope in the party because it has their best interests at heart.
“As ANC, we are very prepared to go out there and be available in case people need us. Because people always need us. It’s just that we had mistakes that we’ve done in the past. So now we came back again to fix those mistakes. We really beg the youth to come back and have trust in us,” says Zulu.
Another volunteer, Bonginkosi Dindi, says the party has a big challenge, particularly in appealing to the youth, and they are working on that.
It’s very much important to go and address such particular issues so that the people can have an interest to vote. So it’s for us to do a self-inspection and deal with that particular issue and make sure that we are in line with their needs so that you can be able to attract them and see their needs and the importance of voting,” says Dindi.
The ANC says its leadership in municipalities, including eThekwini and KwaDukuza, shows the party is capable of improving local governance in the province.
