By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Umkhonto weSizwe Party’s Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla says there is no possibility of a coalition between her party and the African National Congress (ANC) or Democratic Alliance (DA).
Speaking to journalists at the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) national results centre, Zuma said her father, the leader of the MK Party, had indicated he was open to working with “progressive black parties”.
She said it did not include the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“MKP will be kingmaker potentially if the ANC reaches the 40 percent floor [nationally], but its strength is also KwaZulu-Natal, so they would be able to put a government together there with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and could prevent the ANC from forming a government in KwaZulu-Natal.”
Its safe to say that the ANC has lost KwaZulu-Natal … It seems like MKP has already taken the vote from the ANC in the rural areas [in KZN] and thats very dangerous for the ANC because they are already weak in the urban areas.
Asked whether the MK Party would work with the EFF, she said it was a “possibility”.
Zuma-Sambudla was non-committal on whether the MK Party would work with the IFP, likely to also be a strong contender in the province.
“The IFP… we will see,” she said.
The IFP has signed a pre-election pact and is part of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC).
The MPC includes the DA and a host of smaller political parties, such as ActionSA and the FF+.
With just more than 21 percent of the vote counted, the ANC is in the lead with 43 percent, followed by the DA with 24 percent.
The EFF follows with 8.9 percent, but the newly formed MK is hot on its heels with 8.1 percent.
Despite the ANC’s lead, many analysts and polls project it will not gain a 50 percent majority for the first time.
The ANC is currently leading in all provinces besides the Western Cape where the DA is in the lead, and KwaZulu-Natal where the MK is gaining support.