MK party’s KZN success shows ‘Zulu tribalism’- Mantashe

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe said he is surprised by the performance of the ANC in Kwa-Zulu-Natal as early numbers show strong support for former president Jacob Zuma’s new party.

Mantashe dismissed the MK party’s support in KZN as tribal politics hinging on Zuma’s recognition in the Zulu community.

LIVE interactive map, latest news, multimedia and more!

View Map

According to Mantashe, the ANC had done studies on both Gauteng and KZN. He said the party had put its best foot forward in campaigning.

‘Zulu tribalism’

“If the impact in KZN reflects something different, it reflects Zulu tribalism. I don’t think we should lock ourselves into Zulu tribalism. It is a backward form of politics. It has its time frame and disappears,” he said.

Mantashe brushed off the idea of a coalition with the EFF and the MK party, should the ANC not win an outright majority.

ALSO READ: ‘A sinking feeling’ as results start trickling in: FF+ rejects coalition with the ANC

“I do not know. I am not talking about coalitions now. The outcome we want is an outright majority. That is what we want,” he said.

Mantashe said coalitions were a consequence that was not planned for.

Zuma ‘clinging to power’

Mantashe described Zuma as someone who wanted to cling to power, despite having served two terms as the president of South Africa. He said Zuma had several roles he played in the ANC and had completed his terms.

ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘EFF will accept any outcome from election’ – Malema

“Former leaders of the ANC and people who were given responsibility, all of them beyond their term, are not happy. They want to continue ruling. It is human behaviour, we cannot stop that,” he said.

The EFF had already pronounced a working relationship with the MK party to get a two-thirds majority.