Election: ANC Veterans’ League prioritises victory over DA coalition

The ANC Veterans’ League (ANCVL) is not wedded to the idea of forming an alliance with the Democratic Alliance (DA) but would forge ahead with its plan to obtain an outright majority in the 2024 general election.

The ruling party is not bothered by DA’s public statements that it was not interested to enter into a marriage with it.

“If the DA does not want to enter into agreement with our policy framework on coalitions, it’s up to them, but at the moment we are not going for any coalition agreement, we are going for an outright victory,” said ANCVL president Dr Snuki Zikalala, who even mentioned a two-thirds majority at the polls.

But this sounds too ambitious as even Nelson Mandela could not obtain that in 1994.

Only Thabo Mbeki managed to reach the twothirds victory required to change the country’s constitution.

The ANC is instead expected to drop its majority from 57% to the highest of 52% and the lowest of 48%. The party itself estimated it would perform even below 40%.

Should it fall below the 50% threshold, it would be forced to enter into a coalition with one or several parties to govern.

But should it fall below 40% according to its own prediction, the ANC would lose power completely and the opposition parties would take over as a coalition government.

“If we don’t get a two-thirds majority we will cross that bridge when we are there,” said Zikalala.

“We don’t want to only think about coalitions currently, we want to think about rebuilding the ANC, uniting members of civil society and making sure we bring back the integrity of the ANC and the dignity of our people.”

Zikalala said the DA was closest to the ANC policy principles.

“But we know very well that if we enter into a coalition with the DA, it’s a party that does not believe in transformation and black economic empowerment.

“However, when it comes to service delivery, governance and the rule of law, it’s a party we can talk to but we are not going to go cap-in-hand,” said Zikalala.

Right now, the ANC wants to ensure its coalition policy framework is known to the voters and which parties it would work with after the election.

“It should be a framework that is accepted by the communities and it should be a living documents,” he said.

Political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the DA was power-hungry and would enter into a coalition with any party, including the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters, despite the party’s rhetoric to oppose both parties.

“They seem to be chopping and changing their position, but at the heart of approach is to lead any coalition arrangement should the ANC fail to reach the 50% threshold,” he said.