Though ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is confident the ANC will single-handedly win the Ethekwini metro in the November elections and govern without a coalition, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party says the ANC is delusional.
Experts suggest that Mbalula is full of bravado and promoting the ANC as strong and invincible.
ANC confident of majority victory
But the ANC is adamant that it will govern eThekwini with an outright majority after the 4 November local government elections.
Addressing an ANC election volunteers assembly in Durban on Sunday, Mbalula said the ANC would not need a coalition partnership, adding that the party is tired of co-governing with its rivals.
The ANC support base in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was eroded by the emergence of Jacob Zuma’s MK party, the majority party in the province.
MK was outsmarted by a minority coalition comprising the IFP, DA, ANC and National Freedom Party, which took power after the 2024 national elections.
The ANC lost its sole control of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay after the 2021 local government elections to DA-led minority coalitions and never recovered.
‘The delusion’
MK national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said the ANC is being delusional to imagine an absolute victory in Ethekwini, or any metro in South Africa.
“It is the delusion of being an illegal and unelected government in KZN. This is the delusion that comes with a 114-year-old party that now governs everything through a coalition. The days of the ANC’s majority power are gladly over and nothing can save them. The people of KZN want MK and with time, the ANC will accept this,” Mahlangu said.
Analysts question ANC optimism
Analysts also disagreed with Mbalula’s prediction, saying the ANC’s chances of winning an outright majority are improbable.
Independent political economy analyst Sandile Swana said no political party in South Africa would secure an outright majority as “the days of one-party dominance are over”.
He said most metros in South Africa are governed by coalitions, except Cape Town, which is under the DA, and the ANC-controlled Buffalo City and Mangaung metros, where it has a small majority.
Swana said Mbalula is missing the point and is merely showing bravado.
Analyst Daniel Silke said it “would be demeaning for the party to talk in advance about the necessity to form a coalition”.
“Any admission that the election results could end up with coalitions is ultimately an admission in advance that there is weakness in the ANC support base.”
