Durban – After showing signs of a growing support base in KwaZulu-Natal in the local government elections in November last year, the EFF is putting together the final touches before hosting its Siyabonga (thank you) rally at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
Provincial chairperson in KZN Vusi Khoza told Independent Media on Tuesday that the party was hosting the event to show its supporters their appreciation for the consistent growth in its support base.
With the crimson party now having an office at every ward across the province, Khoza said commander in chief Julius Malema and the entire national leadership would also descend on supporters to announce some of the political plans for the new year.
The EFF decided to host its rally the same day of the ANC’s 108 birthday celebration.
“The national leadership decided to come and thank the people of KwaZulu-Natal for their consistency in terms of voting for the EFF. The commander in chief and the entire national leadership will be coming to meet with the fighters and voters of KwaZulu-Natal.
“Of course there will be pronouncements on how we are going to move forward because the truth is, like we said before, we wanted to bring the ANC to below 50% in the metro and all the municipalities and we’ve managed to do that. Going into 2024, we are going to remove them from the provincial government,” Khoza said.
Burt the last time Malema was in KZN, a group of ANC supporters attempted to deny him access to a voting station in Willowfontein in Msunduzi during voter registration weekend.
The EFF emerged as the fourth biggest party in the province after election results were released, obtaining 8.64% of the vote and 150 seats. The party’s support base grew from 3.31% since the 2016 elections.
The political climate in KZN the past year had been volatile, as police revealed that political killings in the province rose during the election period and a designated task force had been assigned to investigate at least seven politically motivated murders.
EFF ward candidate Thulani Shangase was one of those gunned down near his home in the Plessislaer area in Pietermaritzburg about two weeks before the 2021 elections.
Shangase, who was also a member of the South African National Taxi Association (Santaco), was believed to be returning home from an election campaign when he was shot.
Political Bureau