Q&A: Ntuzuma ANC member stresses uncertainty victory on the upcoming local government elections
By Mcebo Makhaye
African National Congress (ANC) member based in Ntuzuma, north of Durban, complains about the lack of campaigns as the local government elections takes place on October 27, 2021.
His name is David Dlamini, who works as a member of the ANC committee in ward 47, in Ntuzuma. Dlamini is known for being in a frontline in arranging party’s rallies, community meetings and hearing community’s issues, among other things he does.
Under his belt, he holds a Politics Degree from the University of KwaZulu Natal, and he has been in the ANC for almost 25 years. Dlamini has been campaigning ever since and he recalls his hard-working paying off by winning 20 wards in 2019 local government elections.
With just local Government Elections around the corner, I have a chat with Dlamini, and this is what he had to say:
Since there are lockdown regulations, have you managed to campaign?
I would not lie we had not managed to campaign as usual, due to the coronavirus. Although we did use cars that cruise from ward to ward, whereby I would have a microphone speaking to people about our party’s mandate as well as announcing our weekly razzmatazz.
Do you think the local government elections was supposed to take place in October amid Covid-19?
To be honest, the pandemic still remains a challenge, but I think (yes) the local government elections was supposed to happen in October. And the department of health, have introduced safety measures into voter registration and voting procedures to mitigate the risk of transmission of the virus.
Do you have any suggestions for the IEC team?
Personally, I think IEC should introduce other voting plans for old-age people. As unknows relate to the impact of the pandemic on the turnout, for example, there must be a demand for special vote home visits.
Recently, we have seen alleged ANC factions amongst top members, do you think it would have an impact on the local elections results?
First and foremost, there is no known factions in the ANC, and even if there were factions it would not cause impact on the result of the local elections. I am simply saying this because ANC supporters mostly trust us (lower ANC members), besides that we have had done our role to campaign although it was hard due the virus.
How confident you are that the ANC will win the local government elections in your ward?
I would not lie we are not too confident because there is so many issues going on, but in simple words we are uncertainty on the elections victory. However, as they say: “you can’t judge the book by its cover”. In this regard, we cannot throw in the towel, and I have faith that people still believe in our organisation. Lastly, I would like to urge people to go in numbers to vote for the party that cares about them, which is ANC.
