ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has pledged that the party will fight to reclaim its majority in KwaZulu-Natal after losing significant ground to the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in the 2024 general elections. Picture: Phando Jikelo/ Independent Newspapers
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has vowed that the ANC will regain a majority in KwaZulu-Natal, attributing recent setbacks to the impact of the rival MK party led by former President Jacob Zuma.
Mbalula was speaking to the media at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, where the party held its National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.
He addressed the ANC’s under performance in the 2024 national elections and shared its plans to recover ahead of the local elections.
Mbalula recently visited three provinces where the party saw a significant decline in support.
The goal of these visits was to engage with local structures to better understand the reasons behind the declining results.
"We did not perform well in the 2024 elections. We lost our majority in Gauteng, Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal, and in Mpumalanga, our support dropped from 78% to 50%," Mbalula said.
He has said the ANC will visit Mpumalanga again next week. The losses in KwaZulu-Natal are particularly notable, as the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, under former President Jacob Zuma, has captured a significant share of votes.
Mbalula says the ANC has conducted its own analysis of the election results and is taking steps to address the issues.
“We have done our analysis as the national committee, and the National Working Committee will review the feedback from these engagements moving forward,” he said.
“We have done our own analysis as the national committee. Moving forward, the National Working Committee will consolidate and receive a report from our meetings with the structures,” he stated.
Looking ahead to the local elections, Mbalula says the party is determined to reclaim its lost ground.
“The ANC will fight to regain KZN and retain its majority, especially in the upcoming local elections.”
Mbalula acknowledges that internal challenges have contributed to the party’s under performance.
He says that some former ANC members have left to join the MK party, while others participate in both parties.
“There are many things that we need to do. We need to strengthen structures and branches. We went into these elections with weaker structures.
“Over and above, we were affected by this descent to the Zuma party, which has imploded from within. So that has aided our party in getting more numbers,” he explained.
Despite the challenges in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbalula says that the ANC has not yet made any decisions on leadership in the province but plans to return in the coming weeks to assess the situation.
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