ANC licks its wounds over KZN loss: ‘We are confident we will come back’

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party will do its best to reclaim its lost support in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

The party garnered just over 17% in KZN during May’s elections, a decline from 41% in 2021 and 55% in 2019.

The ANC’s National Working Committee (NWC) and Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) spent the weekend in the province engaging with branches and regions in the aftermath.

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Will the ANC bounce back?

“We are confident that we will come back we have energy and we have foresight to understand the problem and to tackle it that is what is important,” he said.

Poor leadership, factionalism and friction with the Zulu monarchy were identified as among the reasons for the poor showing at the polls.

But Mbalula said the party should focus its energy on rebuilding and not finger-pointing.

MK party to blame for ANC problems

Mbalula said the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party was another major reason for the ANC’s defeat in KZN.

ALSO READ: ANC will struggle in KZN – experts

The MK party received a majority in KZN but failed to be part of the governing coalition led by an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Premier.

“We know what went wrong. Jacob Zuma formed a political party, challenged the ANC, and won the majority in the province. The numbers that he got was the ANC constituency,” he said,

Mbalula said measures would be taken to revive branches and to establish interim structures where there are no branches.

“We need real ANC people who love the organization to lead the organization. This election has paved the way for us to be decisive. Where there is no branch, we will establish new structures,” he said.

It’s never too late

The provincial secretary of the ANC Bheki Mtold said several challenges face the party in KZN.

These include branch paralysis, political violence, gatekeeping and a volatile political environment.

Despite the ANC’s decline in support, Mtolo said there were many staunch ANC members in that province.

“It is not entirely true that we will never come back when we lose,” he said.

A history of bouncing back

The 2024 elections were not the first to see the ANC lose power to the IFP.

In the 1990s the ANC deployed leaders such as Zuma and Zweli Mkhize to win the trust of supporters in that province and see off a more popular IFP.