There are few significant events that took place over the past two weeks that have shown the strength of the African National Congress (ANC) in KZN ahead of elections.

Firstly, the party’s Provincial Secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli welcomed Sizwe Mchunu and singled him out as having ensured the growth of the  Democratic Alliance from a mere seven seats to be an official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.

Mchunu, who served for more than ten years in the DA National Executive Committee, brought with him other senior leaders from the DA. These include Claudelle Chetty, Renesha Jugmohan and Nalene Naidoo-Atwaru. Added to the list of ANC’s pool of volunteers is Njabulo Mlaba, another senior leader from the National Freedom Party.

Clearly, there is a strong wave to restore the ANC to its position as a trusted leader enjoying the confidence of society across all racial lines. Over the weekend, provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala addressed the well-attended 125th Anniversary of the Natal Indian Congress at the Durban City Hall. In his speech, which was well received, he reiterated the ANC’s commitment towards strengthening its support base amongst all communities it was formed to serve.

According to Zikalala, the ANC is a home for all, irrespective of whether people are members of so-called minority or majority population. He pointed out that the ANC is an organisation of equals and that they accept all individuals in terms of the contribution they make in the fulfillment of the dreams of the people.  He further stressed that the ANC treats all its members with the same respect, be they long-serving or newly-recruited, whether they serve in elected or appointed structures of government or outside government service.

The publishing of the ANC candidates election list is arguable another major highlight over the past two weeks. The names of candidates from KZN appearing in both national-to-national and the province-to-national candidates list reflects the stability, maturity, unity and cohesion for which the ANC in this province is well known for over many years.

By and large, the candidate list is as a result of dignity with which branches and cadres approached the list conference processes. Importantly, the democratic distribution of candidates instead of the winner takes all mentality characterized the list conference. Since the publishing of the list, there has been no public spats in this province.

ANC membership in the province have been yearning for the public portrayal of the ANC they have known - a decent, humble, disciplined, united and self-respecting servant of the people. The PEC is making great progress despite the unprecedented assault from certain sections of the media and lifelong foes of the liberation struggle.

Since that watershed conference that elected President Cyril Ramaphosa, the PEC has conducted itself in a manner that has dispelled any distrust of leadership by membership. It has remained steadfast in resisting any permanent factionalisation of the ANC, where members live by pledging allegiance to one faction or another instead of differing on an issue and continue to live together as comrades.

Following the submission of the candidate to the Independent Electoral Commission, the focus has shifted with the ANC now intensifying the mobilizing for the resounding victory on the 8th May.

Provincial leaders and volunteers are continuing to walk up and down the streets of townships and suburbs, crossing rivers and valleys to ask ordinary members of society to vote for the party of Nelson Mandela. In all interactions, there is a strong passion for the creation of an integrated non-racial society enjoying freedom, living in a safe and prosperous province.  

This passion is shared by all the members from diverse communities: African, Indian, Coloured and White communities wherever they are met by the ANC leaders - in the, churches, mosques, temples - as professionals, business, organized labour and different sectors of civil society.

The ANC’s unveiling of a countdown clock at its headquarters in Durban, coincided with the signing of an Electoral Code of Conduct Pledge by all political parties contesting elections. Zikalala assured the IEC that the party had undertaken to emulate the former leaders of the ANC by promoting political tolerance.

He reminded leaders of political parties that the whole world will be focusing on KZN because Madiba voted for the first in this province after having spent 27 years in prison. This historic occasion was televised all over the world to billions of people.

Because KZN is set to be in the spotlight, he warned that this province cannot afford the eruption of political violence in the build-up to the elections. The campaigning period characterised by violence and intimidation will set a bad example, he cautioned.

He encouraged leaders to work together for the normalization of political discourse at all levels of leadership.  During Mayihlome Rally held yesterday, he further requested leaders to accept elections not as a deadly contest but a health competition of ideas that offers people the best form of solutions to their problems.

Undoubtedly, having peaceful, free and fair elections will not only be a huge boost for our democracy but will present a good image of this province and South Africa as a whole.

Ndabezinhle Sibiya is the Head of Content and Knowledge Management in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government Communications. He writes in his personal capacity