ANC member of parliament and deputy minister of health Sibongiseni Dhlomo has conceded that the party’s splinter group, Umkhonto We Sizwe Party (MK Party), is posing a serious challenge for the ANC KwaZulu-Natal.
Dhlomo said this during an interview with Sunday World on the sidelines of the polling station where he was a deployee in the eThekwini metro ward 101, where it seems it will be a two-horse race between the MK Party and the governing ANC.
One of the biggest voting districts
“This is one of the biggest voting districts, and it has been divided into four other voting stations. Clearly, the MK party is quite visible. It is also giving us a run for our money in this ward. The contest is really between us and them. But the ANC will emerge victorious with a bigger margin,” said Dhlomo.
The ward is traditionally a stronghold of the ANC. It comprises mainly the Mayville, Cator Manor and Cator Crest informal settlements. It was also the scene of the brutal assassination of Siyabonga Mkhize. Mkhize was the ANC candidate in the 2021 municipal elections.
A senior ANC member in eThekwini region, Muzimuni Ngiba, is charged with orchestrating his demise.
The voting station was a hive of activity on Wednesday morning as throngs of voters across all parties braved long queues destined to cast their vote. Some had stood in the queues as early as 6am wanting to be the first to put an X for their preferred candidate.
Other voters who had been in the queues since morning lamented being unable to cast their vote. They blamed the IEC rules for their problems. The rules prohibit a voter from voting at a different voting station than where they are registered.
Challenges at some voting stations
“I was really disappointed because I was looking forward to voting, but I couldn’t. I feel my rights have been taken away. My village is too far I wouldn’t have [gone] home because I’m working the following day,” lamented Buyisile Mntungwa. His whose home is in eSikhawini township, KZN’s north coast.
The ward has also been the heart of service delivery protests, mainly due to housing and water shortages. It has also seen many leaders of the civic group Abahlali Basemjondolo being killed. The killings were allegedly because of them waging a struggle against landlessness and fraud in the allocation of free government housing.
