ANC confident over KZN

2004-04-07 15:35

Durban - Deputy president Jacob Zuma believes the African National Congress has done enough to secure a win in KwaZulu-Natal in the April 14 elections.

"We have touched more voters than before. From that point of view we have done enough," Zuma told reporters at an informal breakfast briefing in Durban on Wednesday.

He said unlike other election campaigns in the past, the ANC's leadership had embarked on countrywide door-to-door campaigns and had been able to speak to people who would not normally have made it to rallies, such as the elderly.

Asked if this was enough to ensure an outright victory in the province, Zuma joked that he was not a sangoma and that it was difficult to predict percentages.

"From a political point of view, we believe the response (to campaigning) has been very good... there is no reason for us not to win."

He said if one had to speculate, the ANC would do better in these elections because its support had grown in the province between the polls of 1994 and 1999.

Levels of intimidation down

Another reason the party expected increased support was because levels of intimidation had decreased and people felt safer showing open support for the ANC.

"In the past there was support (for the ANC), but intimidation was greater, so support for the other party was not real, it was artificial," Zuma said.

In the run up to the 1994 election, thousands of people were killed in political violence in the province, which was traditionally a stronghold of the Inkatha Freedom Party. Although recent surveys have indicated that the ANC will win KwaZulu-Natal, the race between it and the IFP is expected to be close.

Zuma also said that security forces, who had learnt from the last two elections, were better equipped to deal with potential problems.

He believed the elections would be free and fair, as South Africa's democracy had matured a great deal.

Asked if the ANC and IFP would govern the province through a coalition as they had in the past, Zuma said he could not predict this.

However he believed co-operation agreements were important, because if the two parties were seen working together, there was harmony in the province which made way for development. Tensions rose when there was a perception among people that the two parties were not working well together.

On speculation that if the ANC won KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma would become premier of the province, he said: "If the ANC says this is what you will do, then I will do it."

One-party state

He scoffed at suggestions political parties have made that South Africa was in danger of becoming a one-party state, saying it was scare tactics.

"It's... political propaganda. (They are) saying that, because they don't have support. They don't have support because they don't have policies that are superior to the ANC."

The chances of the country becoming a one-party state were slim because there were many political parties who would get members in parliament.

- SAPA