Durban — ANC KZN chairperson Siboniso Duma says his party does not need the DA or any other political party to enter into a coalition in order to govern.
Duma was speaking during a provincial alliance community outreach programme in Umlazi Cinema on Sunday. The programme was attended by the ANC provincial executive, SACP, Cosatu, Sanco and eThekwini regional leadership.
Duma said, “The ANC is the majority and we must campaign for a resounding victory. This will ensure that we fulfil the historic mission of the party. The organisation was founded to liberate indigenous people and ensure that they have access to economic opportunities.
“The future of our democracy is safe in the hands of the ANC-led alliance, but it is the service delivery that will guarantee the longevity of the ANC as the governing party. Linked to this, a united alliance will safeguard our freedom and strengthen service delivery.”
One of the political parties had not changed and was still a backward party with nothing to offer the people of KwaZulu-Natal, he said.
Duma’s utterances came after Deputy President Paul Mashatile and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula hinted at the possibility that the 2024 national elections could see the formation of a coalition government in South Africa.
Mashatile and Mbalula were speaking on Friday at the National Dialogue on Coalition Governments which Mashatile hosted at the UWC campus.
Mashatile said: “Universally, every political party desires to govern. However, when an election produces no outright winner, parties are forced to enter into coalitions.”
He said the government was keenly aware of the challenge of addressing such a contentious issue as coalition building and that the weekend’s dialogues were “several years late”.
“Had we paused earlier to reflect on how best to promote and maintain consensus within our evolving democracy, we might have avoided some of the recent distressing scenes that have played out dramatically in some of our metropolitan municipalities,” he said.
Mbalula outlined a set of measures and principles to be met by potential coalition partners in municipalities including that the party that won the largest share of the votes should lead the coalition.
He also said a threshold should be introduced to bring a degree of legitimacy with regard to what amount of electoral support qualified a party or candidate to be part of councils and coalition governments.
Duma also delivered remarks at the ANC KZN Women’s League elective conference held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, recently.
He said the main focus of the conference was to change people’s lives, especially those who go to bed on an empty stomach.
Duma said even ordinary women who don’t belong to the ANC, relied on the outcomes of the conference.
“The fact that this conference takes place during Women’s Month has created more expectations. Women in deep rural areas who are battling as a result of escalating food prices are looking forward to the conference’s resolutions.”
He said the Women’s League must work with law enforcement agencies to deal with murders and raping of imbokodo.
“We need a strong women’s league to ensure that we accelerate the building of roads, bridges and transport networks across all corners of the province, to ensure that the government of the day fights and eliminate crime, root out corruption and water the seeds of good clean and ethical governance while creating an ethical and capable state. We need a strong women’s league to ensure that we heal our province from the many scars of crime, gender-based violence and many other social ills.”
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