Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
12 February 2024 | 23:13 SAST
2 min read

Picture: News24 Morapedi Mashashe/Gallo Images/Daily Sun

Attendance was somewhat low at the Economic Freedom Fighter’s (EFF) manifesto launch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in KwaZulu Natal on Saturday, critics say.

The EFF responded, saying that the audience at the manifesto launch is not representative of its total supporters.

Political analyst Belinda Johnson acknowledged the EFF’s focus on key issues like landlessness, load shedding, and unemployment, issues that particularly resonate with the youth. Her colleague, Nteboheleng Tsehla, echoed this sentiment, emphasising the EFF’s presence in university campuses and its appeal to young voters.

“Targeting those top three, landlessness, looking at obviously things like load shedding, and then of course unemployment, obviously are issues that matter to youth. And the EFF is very good at sort of putting its finger on exactly what young people in this country are concerned about, going forward,” Johnson said.

The emergence of the uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP) which is backed by Jacob Zuma, is gaining traction ahead of the 2024 South African general election, especially in KZN. A recent poll revealed MKP’s support is currently 9%, which is the third highest in South Africa.

However, the analysts warn that politics in the KZN area is especially volatile and mercurial.

“Especially in the KZN area, with the MK party coming into effect and seeing how they are prominently growing and becoming stronger, it perhaps could affect the EFF. But one has to always be wary on the excitement of a new party whenever it comes in, especially in such a place as KZN, which is very volatile. Sometimes a lot of the time we see that in an area like KZN, there’s a lot of tribalistic politics, individualistic politics,” Tsehla said.

Support for the African National Congress is dwindling, bringing into focus the possibility of a coalition government. There are talks of a Democratic Alliance (DA)-Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) coalition as well as an MKP-ANC coalition, which seems unlikely given that former President of the ANC Jacob Zuma was recently suspended from the governing party.

Tsehla spoke about the possibility of MKP forming a coalition with the IFP, given historical ties and shared demographics, but noted the improbability of such a partnership garnering more than 6% of support from voters.

Johnson cautioned against overestimating MK’s initial support but acknowledged the influence of former President Jacob Zuma’s patronage network in the region.

“And with MK, I think one of the things that people really underestimate about Jacob Zuma is his network of patronage within KwaZulu-Natal. And when I say patronage, I don’t always mean that in a bad way. He’s very much in touch with poor people. He’s done a lot to help individual families. People remember that, communities remember that. It’s why his support base is so strong. And it’s ideally why he was brought to them initially to help sort of co-political violence in KZN as deputy president,” Johnson noted.

Regarding polling data indicating a potential drop in support for the African National Congress (ANC) and varying projections for other parties, both analysts stressed the uncertainty surrounding polls, especially after unique circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic and July unrest. However, they agreed on the likelihood of the ANC losing its majority and the EFF gaining ground, particularly among young voters.

The date of the election has not yet been announced.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.