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ANC defiant amid Zuma’s shadow in KZN: ‘Zuma and MK party cannot defeat us’
The ANC takes election battle to Zuma's backyard and says Zuma and the MK party will be defeated in the elections.
An African National Congress (ANC) member holds party flag in Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega
Despite the ANC holding its manifesto launch in KwaZulu-Natal, a stronghold of the party’s estranged former president Jacob Zuma, the party said it did not fear the Zuma threat.
Zuma key figure in KZN politics
Zuma, a key figure in KZN politics, has been influential in the region for many years.
KwaZulu-Natal has become a political battleground for several parties. This time, things will be different for the ANC as they launch their elections rally in a province where Zuma had been most influential, without him for the first time in years.
In an interview with eNCA, spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the focus of the manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida Stadium would not be the MK party nor Zuma’s political betrayal.
ANC: ‘Zuma not a threat’
“He is suspended from the ANC so he is not the subject of focus for us at this Mayihlome rally I would not want to apportion blame for his actions on anyone if he has chosen the cause of action that he has chosen that is well within his rights,” he said.
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Bhengu added that the ruling party had been compelled to challenge the use of the MK name and logo within Zuma’s newly formed party, accusing Zuma of stealing the identity of the ANC’s armed wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe.
“We needed to protect the emblem and all our assets and that is why we will go to the electoral court and court regarding those but in as far as being threatened by the MK Party we are not threatened by the MK party,” she said.
Bhengu emphasised that the ruling party would challenge the MK party, just as it had challenged other parties that were splinter groups out of the ANC.
“We are not being arrogant about it the ANC has got a capacity to defend itself members of the ANC supporters of the ANC have got this capacity to rise and defend this movement,” Bhengu said.
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Meanwhile, Bhengu said that the ANC was planning to fill the entire stadium with little support from other provinces, aiming to show that the ANC still had strong support in KwaZulu-Natal.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was also meant to deliver his manifesto speech at around 11am.
