KwaZulu-Natal ANC leaders smarting from losing control of the eThekwini Metro on Thursday committed to go back to the drawing board to assess and reflect on what went wrong.
Party leaders attributed the losses to internal factions, corruption, limited campaigning and a low voter turnout.
“It is time for us to regroup and recover. We take full responsibility for disappointing our voters,” said ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala.
“We could have done better. The electorate are saying we are concerned and there are issues we should address. We are living in poverty and there is a growing level of unemployment. That on its own causes social distress.”
Zikalala said there is need to expedite the implementation of all programmes and interventions to ensure people get employed. This will bring badly needed social stability, he said.
The party's leadership will in the coming days look at the best options for eThekwini and other hung municipalities in the province.
The loss of eThekwini metro was the most frustrating for the party. The ANC has governed the economically strategic metro, which boasts a budget of R52.3bn, since 2004. It is the third largest metro in the country after Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The ANC is now contemplating who to sign on as a coalition partner to continue governing the port city and trade hub. The DA has secured about a quarter of the voter support in the metro at almost 26%, with the EFF winning 10.5% and the IFP 7% support.
KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Precious Lugayeni said the coalition options are limited for the ANC. “The ANC up until now has been the stronger party. The only choice of a marriage is with the IFP, a party that may not necessarily be favoured by ANC members.”
“This is not a minor setback for the ANC. The party leaders have still to comprehend, accept and digest the ultimate reason for why it lost control. It is about the voters and not necessarily its members,” said Lugayeni.
To move forward the party must fix the divisions within and acknowledge that the voters did not vote because of a number of grievances, key of which was a clear lack of service delivery.
The IFP — the province’s official opposition — has come out as the biggest winner. The party now controls five of the 11 districts in the region, dominating in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Overall results show that the ANC has won 742 council seats, IFP 527 and the DA 165. The province has 5,447,815 voters which represent 21% of the national voter population. Overall, KwaZulu-Natal has the largest chunk of hung municipalities, 18 in number.
The DA swept the boards in the hot spots of Phoenix and Chatsworth, historically mainly Indian suburbs. It also made history with an outright win in the uMngeni municipality, situated outside Pietermaritzburg and incorporating the scenic Howick and Hilton suburbs.
Political scientist Sanusha Naidu, from the Institute of Global Dialogue, says the ANC’s loss in the elections is about the maturity of the electorate. “The low voter turnout says voters are using their feet to force change. They are no longer voting out of loyalty. Other parties should take note of this and not suffer the same fate”.
Opposition parties should not focus on getting the ANC under 50%, but rather how to maintain their upward trajectory”.
She attributes the success of the IFP to “believability” of its renewal. “The IFPs wins speak to a re-emergence and an ability to focus on an alignment across its voter base, young and old. The IFP made a big fight back to reclaim and maintain its traditional stronghold in KZN”. The party’s traditional links with the royal household in KwaZulu-Natal and going in search of the disenchanted in the Durban metro was strategic.
The EFF pitched their vote towards the youth. “Speaking to the challenges of youth, unemployment and lack of progress resonates with the mental mapping of young people. In some parts of the country, the EFF also garnered the elderly support with service delivery being a key issue,” she added.
The election results are expected to be gazetted on Monday.
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