Let the election battle begin

While most of the major political parties contesting elections in the Eastern Cape say they are ready to unseat the “incapable ANC” from power, the governing party said it was confident of winning more than 80% of the provincial vote.

More than three-million eligible voters have been registered across the province ahead of  Wednesday’s general elections, where they will cast their votes in more than 4,860 voting stations.

While the DA, EFF, UDM and ATM said they were more than prepared to stage a serious fight for seats at the Bhisho legislature, the ruling party feels these elections will be a walk in the park.

The ANC said on Monday it had done enough ground work and was confident of obtaining an outright victory,  which it said would give them a two-thirds majority in  the provincial legislature.

The Eastern Cape is one of the few provinces where the ANC has enjoyed a comfortable grip since the 2019 elections, when it managed a 68.74% victory, winning 44 of the 63 provincial legislature seats available at the time.

The number of seats in the legislature seats has since been increased  to 72.

A record 37 political parties are set to lock horns in the province on Wednesday, with the ANC, which attracted 1.3-million votes in  2019,  confident of winning outright.

Party spokesperson Gift Ngqondi said ANC volunteers had “visited every house in the province, every street, every village, township and every town, to ensure contacts with all eligible voters”.

Ngqondi said his party’s campaign machinery had been well-oiled and raring to go since 2023 and that from such engagements, “we have been assured that our people still have trust in the ANC, hence we are confident of obtaining over 80% in these elections”.

“All our volunteers are on the ground as we speak and our people have told us they will vote for the ANC because a vote for the ANC is in defence of our hard-earned democracy and to protect the gains already made by the democratic government since we came into power 30 years ago,” he said.

Ngqondi said as one of their campaign strategies, they had opted to do away with hosting many rallies, and instead opted for a “more contact approach” with voters.

The ANC obtained 79.27% in 2004, 68.82% in 2009 and 70.09% in 2014. 

Meanwhile, Eastern Cape DA leader Andrew Whitfield said his party was ready for the elections. 

The DA was the official opposition in the province after it received 310,500 votes, or 15.73% of the provincial electorate, thus attaining 10 seats in legislature.

Whitfield said they were now hoping for more seats.

“We have never been as well-prepared as we are for this election, it’s a three-day election ... we have put a tremendous amount of effort and resources into training to ensure that our operations are efficient and effective for the three days.

“We have done everything that we can to ensure that we have a successful turnout of our DA voters,” he said.

He said the DA had thousands of volunteers across the province.

EFF provincial secretary Simthembile Madikizela said compared with previous elections, they were the most organised.

The EFF was the third most popular party in the province, after being voted for by almost 155,000, or 7.84%, of the electorate,  with five seats in the legislature.

Madikizela said they had now channelled all their available resources into unseating the ANC. 

In the lead-up to this election, even at municipal councils and the legislature, they had “a visible and vibrant presence”.

“Both the ANC and the DA, I don’t think they will celebrate anything after these elections,” he said.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said they were confident of receiving an improved vote in the Eastern Cape.

From receiving 134,280 votes in 2014 in the Eastern Cape during the national elections, the party was reduced to just two seats in the provincial legislature in 2019, with total votes of 51,233.

Over the years, the party has lost its provincial official opposition status to the DA and EFF.

Holomisa said his party’s aim was  to have a government of national unity through coalitions.

“Because in the last 30 years, more people who were supposed to be in jail are occupying high positions in government.

“This has led to a lot of civil unrest and lawlessness.”

Holomisa said his party was willing to talk to anyone if the ANC did not get an outright majority.

“We will ask all the parties in coalitions to compare our manifesto and integrate, so that the constituencies who brought us to parliament could feel that they are properly represented,” he said.

Action SA provincial leader Athol Trollip said his party was ready “to unseat the incapable and corrupt ANC” in the province.

“We have done enough during the build-up and we are now ready to lodge a serious fight with the hope of removing the ANC from power,” Trollip said.

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) will be looking to double its  numbers after receiving one seat in the provincial legislature in 2019. 

ATM national spokesperson Zama Ntshona said they expect the Eastern Cape to continue being its stronghold.

“If there’s a province in our structures that is most organised, that is the Eastern Cape. We are ready for these elections,” Ntshona said.