ANC not yet ready to unseat DA in Western Cape, but they’re gearing up for a fight

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape says it is under no illusions about taking power from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the upcoming 2024 general election, but that doesn’t mean they’re simply going to roll over.

Speaking to The Citizen, provincial ANC spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said they are rather working hard at making sure that the DA’s electoral support dips below the 50% mark.

This comes as the ANC is preparing for its elective provincial conference scheduled for the end of September.

According to Mtsweni, the province under the leadership of the DA has gone from bad to worse when it comes to service delivery, particularly in black communities.

“When you look at areas such as Khayelitsha, service delivery has really suffered because the DA seeks to serve only a minority few in affluent areas of the province,” said Mtsweni.

How exactly does the ANC hope to steal the DA’s shine?

Mtsweni is of the view that the ANC can set up a strong coalition with all other parties except for the DA, stressing that all the ANC wants is a government that is inclusive.

“People must get the same services, and not what the DA has been offering residents over the years.

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“The national elective conference of the ANC in December will decide on which parties here in the Western Cape we will be working with,” said Mtsweni.

No rushing conference as party goes through renewal

The party’s elective conference has been overdue for the last four years and some within the party were not happy that the conference which was scheduled to take place this month, had to be postponed to next month.

According to Mtsweni, as part of the ANC’s renewal project, the postponement also means they don’t want to rush a conference which could be characterised by people fighting for positions.

“We are not the first province that has to postpone an elective conference and we are merely trying to avert a situation where there are divisions with people challenging credentials… We as the Western Cape want to turn the corner,” Mtsweni said.

One of the provinces which was faced with the challenge of credentials, was North West, which despite having elected new Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) members, had to postpone the election for additional PEC members to last weekend.

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Many issues there remain unresolved as a group of aggrieved ANC members have served the newly elected members with court papers, questioning the legitimacy of the elected top five leaders and PEC members.

ANC’s Western Cape dreams quite ambitious

Meanwhile, a political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast doubts the ANC’s 2024 plans in the Western Cape will come to fruition.

“The ANC in the Western Cape is facing a number of threats, which include the party’s divisions along racial lines, where the question of where does power reside is raised,” Breakfast said.

“The other threat is from the DA itself. Despite all the DA’s challenges such as lack of development in mostly black areas of the Western Cape, they have been doing well electorally and administratively, hence their strategic advantage over the ANC is on good governance.”

He said the ANC would also find it hard to get votes from the coloured community who have been feeling excluded by the ANC, stressing that the source of the DA’s strength is with the white and coloured communities.

History of the Western Cape post-1994

The Western Cape has had nine premiers since the advent of democracy, with Hernus Kriel having been the first premier of the province where he served as member of the now defunct National Party (NP) before defecting to what was then known as the Democratic Party in 2000.

Unlike in other provinces, the ANC has always struggled to dominate the political landscape of the Western Cape.

No party in the province achieved an absolute majority during the 2004 election, which meant the ANC, which could only get 45% of the votes, had to form a coalition with what was then known as the New National Party (NNP), which had amassed 11% of the votes.

However, a year later, there was a ‘floor crossing’ period where members of the NNP moved to the ANC, giving the party an absolute majority in the province.

At the time, the ANC chose Ebrahim Rasool as premier. He was later replaced by Lynne Brown in 2008.

It was the 2009 election which saw the ANC being unseated by the DA, in the first time since 1994 that a political party scored an overall majority in the province.

Hellen Zille replaced Brown as the new premier.

During the 2014 election, the DA maintained their hold on the Western Cape, increasing its majority to 59.4%.

In the election of 2019, it was again the DA which won but with a reduced majority of 55.45%.

Zille was later replaced by her colleague Dan Plato, who resigned in 2018, making way for the current premier Alan Winde.

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