Ramaphosa takes ANC campaign into eThekwini as MK Party eats into KwaZulu-Natal support
The ANC president spends Wednesday and Thursday canvassing eThekwini, one of several metros facing closely contested races next week, and addresses the Durban Chamber of Commerce tonight.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa is campaigning in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday and Thursday, taking the governing party’s election push into eThekwini as it works to hold support ahead of next week’s polls.
Ramaphosa is expected to canvass for votes among communities in eThekwini, one of several metros across the country where races are expected to be closely contested when voters go to the ballot.
The province is the harder ground. The ANC faces a challenging electoral battle in KwaZulu-Natal, where the emergence of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party as a major political force has contributed to a decline in support for the governing party. That is the contest Ramaphosa walks into this week, and it is the reason the two days here carry weight beyond the usual campaign stop.
For voters in eThekwini, the visit is a chance to hear directly from the party’s president on the ground where the argument over the province’s direction is being fought. The ANC says the campaign is about consolidating its support and persuading voters to back it in the upcoming polls.
Ramaphosa is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address to the Durban Chamber of Commerce later this evening, putting the campaign in front of the city’s business community on the same day as the community canvass.
As eNCA reported on 28 October, the ANC president’s programme runs across the two days, with the party stepping up efforts to win support before voting. The same report noted that the ANC has still not named its mayoral candidates weeks before the polls, a gap that hangs over metro contests like eThekwini’s.
That detail matters for readers here. In a metro expected to see a closely contested race, the party’s choice of mayoral candidate is part of what voters are being asked to weigh, and the ANC has yet to put a name forward.
The Enquirer will keep reporting on the campaign in eThekwini and across KwaZulu-Natal as the parties make their final arguments to voters before next week’s elections.
