ANC says victory in Msunduzi by-election in KZN ‘is certain’

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal’s Moses Mabhida region is confident it will swing votes in its favour in Wednesday’s hotly contested ward 28 by-election, in the Msunduzi municipality.

That was the word from regional chair Mzimkhulu Thebolla on Monday. The party is touting Parusha Chetty as its candidate. She has had a mammoth task trying to convince voters to throw their weight behind the party in an area with stuttering service delivery.

“We can confirm that the people of ward 28 have accepted us. This is just a matter of formality,” said Thebolla.

The by-election comes after the DA terminated the membership of its councillor, Lucky Naicker, after he was found guilty of being at odds with the party's constitution.

His suspension lasted more than six months and he was slapped with a string of charges.

Naicker has thrown his hat into the ring as an independent candidate. Thebolla argued that Naicker's expulsion from the DA was due to pressure from his party.

“Had it not been for pressure from the ANC, we believe Naicker would still be a councillor,” he said.

The DA did not have an electioneering programme, Thebolla added, concluding that this was a result of “rejection” by the community.

“We have utmost confidence that our victory is certain. The enormity of focus of our tasks remains that of building a nonracial, nonsexist, safe and prosperous society,” he said.

The governing party has had several by-election upsets in KwaZulu-Natal. In eThekwini, the party was dealt a heavy blow when it was pipped by the IFP in a ward 99 by-election in December. 

The ANC dismissed allegations that it used municipal resources to garner votes for its Msunduzi election campaign.

Thebolla said the party was buoyed by the support it had received and that this would send a message that there were no no-go areas in Msunduzi.

“We ventured into some of the traditionally known areas for being the opposition's stamping ground. That narrative that ANC support is declining will be tested.”

In a final push on Sunday, the party deployed provincial executive member, Mbali Frazer, to woo voters in a largely demographically transformed ward. She interacted with residents who braved sweltering heat, and called on employers to allow their workers to head to the polls on Wednesday.

Thebolla said in the interim, ANC councillor Mxolisi Mkhize would assist the community. Mkhize is the deputy secretary of the region and deputy mayor of Msunduzi municipality.

TimesLIVE