New party hopes to be kingmaker in KZN
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Durban — With KwaZulu-Natal most likely to be governed by the coalition, a newly formed political party, All Nations Movement, hopes to be a kingmaker getting at least a seat in next year’s general elections.
The party was officially launched on Saturday in Durban and its founding leader Bongani Yebo Majola said the party was aiming to get at least a seat in the provincial legislature. He said the seat would be important as the decider who would lead a coalition government – the IFP, ANC or DA.
He refused to divulge which party he would work with but said they wanted change which has been elusive for close to 30 years.
“Political dynamics in our province suggest that we are most likely to be governed by the coalition as we have seen in 2021 local government elections so this means that each seat in the legislature will be crucial. When I look at the time remaining before elections, one needs to be honest and accept that getting at least a seat will be an achievement. We strongly believe that with one seat we will be kingmakers,” said Majola.
He added that his decision to form a party was not informed by desire for income since he was still in business with which he was able to support himself and his family, adding that the only reason was to change people’s lives after realising that since 1994 people were still suffering.
Majola was born and raised in Obuka, a rural village outside Melmoth in the north of KwaZulu-Natal.
He got into business, the nature of which he has refused to disclose, in 2007, but said through the business he has managed to buy properties in Ballito and Hillcrest. By revealing this, Majola said that he wanted the public to know he was not getting into politics for material benefits.
“Without boasting, I think I can safely say I have succeeded in fighting the economic war but I felt that was not enough when the majority of people are still suffering and felt the only possible way to assist the poor masses is to form a political vehicle,” said Majola.
He concluded by saying that the party was preparing to launch its manifesto which would provide details on what the party stood for.
Indicators or polls suggest there is no party that will win an outright majority. The IFP, DA and ActionSA have already entered into a pact under a multiple-party forum in anticipation of that scenario. The DA and the IFP are already working together in many municipalities in the province through the service delivery pact the parties signed in July. The pact saw the IFP offering the DA the deputy mayoral position in uMhlathuze Local Municipality in Richards Bay on the North Coast.
With the ANC and the EFF marriage on the rocks it remained unclear whether both parties will still find one another and form a coalition if the ANC fails to retain its majority to govern alone. But in a recent public spat between the two, the ANC said it did not need any party to govern the province, saying talking about coalition was an acceptance that those parties already knew they would not win.
The IEC has recently announced that there were close to 400 parties already on the list for next year’s general elections, adding that it was expecting to print the longest ballot paper.
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