KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele says voter turnout of more than 70% on May 29 would guarantee the party a 58% election victory to retain the hotly contested province.
The governing party’s winning scenario anticipates that if four million of the coastal province’s 5.7-million eligible voters came out to cast their vote, the ANC could easily secure a majority of 2.3-million votes in its favour.
The basis for these calculations, according to Mndebele, was an analysis that the party had a stranglehold in 2 300 voting districts, which amounted to 47% of the province’s total of 4 941 voting districts.
“The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has scientifically analysed that we are strong in over 2 300 voting districts, and when we push our people in those 2 300 voting districts and there is a 70% turnout, we are likely to retain KwaZulu-Natal with a 58% margin,” Mndebele said.
He continued: “We are confident; that is the high target we have set for ourselves. If we do reach it, that target will retain us in the province. We are no longer focusing on things that do not matter. We are focusing on our areas and pushing our people to go out and vote. Scientifically, that has told us that we are, with ease and comfort, retaining the province.”
He said the recent blitz on the ground, featuring members of the party’s national executive committee and those of the allied SACP and Cosatu, ensured that “for the first time in a single week, we were able to go to more than 1 500
voting districts at one go”.
He said that ordinarily this would be an impossible feat to achieve because the combined number of provincial executive committee members, including the alliance partners, was not more than 100.
“We were a group of over 600 people, with each allocated to at least three voting districts. That is why we were able, in a single week, to meet all our voting districts in one go, which then assisted us to focus, channel, and recharge our people.”
Before the 80-member national executive committee descended on the province, said Mndebele, the provincial executive committee spent time every week meeting and interacting with over 30 000 people.
“There is no political party in KwaZulu-Natal that campaigns more than the ANC,” he said, adding that the activation with the national executive committee was successful because of the foundation that the province had
already laid.
“Sitting here, I can tell you that I now know what is being done in government,” he said, adding that these regular interactions have led to a more aggressive communication strategy from the government, which also boosted the ANC’s electoral campaign.
“The ANC is now aggressive in its efforts to communicate and tell its story,” he said.
