Durban - African National Congress (ANC) KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma has called on party deployees in government to ensure that they run clean administrations that are hard-working and responsive to people’s needs.
Addressing the ruling party caucus on Thursday at the party’s provincial headquarters in Durban, he warned that failure to deliver services may result in the ANC support dipping below 50% in the 2024 elections.
His address came just a day after the ANC lost a by-election to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in uMuziwabantu Municipality (Harding), which falls under the Ugu District on the south coast.
“We need to run an ANC-led government administration that is clean, hard-working and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the masses,” said Duma.
The KZN chairperson indicated that a below 50% support from the electorate could see the ANC compelled to enter into coalition arrangements in order to remain in power.
He acknowledged that there had been a decline in support for the ANC, pointing to a number of factors, including voter apathy and society boycotting the ANC brand because of corruption allegations against the ANC. He insisted on party members being accessible and not to be seen as being out of touch with the realities that people face.
“The roadmap towards retaining the ANC above 50% and to avoid a government of coalitions in the next general elections lies with bringing real change to the lives of the masses that can be quantifiable,” Duma added.
Since last November’s local government elections, a number of municipalities have been governed through coalitions which at times have not been stable and often disrupted service delivery.
He said it was important to halt the decline in party support in order to ensure that the party governs by itself.