Bheki Mtolo: IFP/DA coalition stands no chance in KZN

The IFP and DA coalition will not be able to garner the votes required for the two parties to dislodge the ANC from power in KwaZulu-Natal at next year’s general elections.

This is according to ANC provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, who said the ruling party was not spending “sleepless nights” over projections showing that an IFP/DA coalition will be able to remove the ANC from power in KZN.

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Speaking during the ANC media networking session in Umhlanga, north of Durban, on Tuesday, Mtolo said it was impossible for the DA/IFP coalition to unseat the ANC in KZN.

For them to remove the ANC, they need to double the number of votes that they got in the previous general elections. In simple language, they need to get an additional one million votes — that won’t happen.

The DA and IFP recently entered into an agreement to co-operate in the province’s hung municipalities.

As things stand, the two political parties are currently involved in processes which could see them forming a pact designed to dislodge the ANC from power in next year’s general elections.

Mtolo said the ANC was already planning its general election victory celebrations.

“When the results are announced at the IEC nerve centre, I will be there to witness the ANC’s victory.

“When an ANC premier is being inaugurated, I will also be there,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, ANC provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma, told journalists that the ruling party in KZN was, unlike other political parties, not banking on a coalition government to maintain control in the province.

Whilst we support interventions to aid coalition at local government level, we maintain our position that the ANC does not need a coalition to govern in relation to the 2024 general elections.

“The national leadership agrees with us when we state that we will campaign for a resounding victory in the 2024 general elections,” he said.

According to the independent electoral commission (IEC) figures, the DA and IFP jointly received 30% of the KZN vote in the 2019 general elections.

The two parties will jointly have to get 51% of the KZN vote for them to be able to dislodge the ANC from power in KZN.

Duma, who along with other members of the current ANC provincial leadership was elected a year ago, said the ruling party’s KZN leadership has, among other things, set high performance standards for its deployees in the provincial government.

Since last year, Duma said there have been improvements in, service delivery and governance — with the majority of the provincial departments receiving clean audit reports from the auditor-general.

Each day, ordinary members of society are demonstrating their deep love for the ANC. They are saying that they expect nothing from the ANC leaders other than solutions to socioeconomic challenges. We offer not to disappoint ANC members and ordinary members of society who expect a lot from the ANC and its leaders.

The ANC government, Duma said, will not discard its pro-poor policies.

“We wish to report that, as the ANC, we ensured that the ANC government adopted a poverty eradication programme and other interventions.

“One of the targets we set for ourselves was to ensure that we reduce the percentage of households that are exposed to food insecurity.

“We have made progress in this regard through clear interventions by government departments,” he said.