Durban — The ANC chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal MEC, Siboniso Duma, has vowed that the struggling ANC will regain its lost ground after the disastrous May elections, where the party lost its majority nationally, KZN, and Gauteng.
The ANC held the Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture in Durban on Wednesday, with Duma as a keynote speaker.
“We will regain our lost ground and return to our power in KZN. KZN remains the strongest ANC province. We will do all we can to honour our struggle icon, Oliver Tambo, the longest-serving president of the ANC. We will regain strength,” he said.
The ANC plunged from 54% to 17% in KZN during the May 2024 election. Nationally, the ANC slid from 58% to 40%.
Duma told the attendees that his party had hatched a plan to win the wards and key municipalities in the upcoming 2026 local government elections.
“Since the national elections in May, we have been consulting the branches to make sure that we do well in the local government elections set for 2026. The reality is that the ANC remains the hope for the downtrodden. We have learnt from our past mistakes, and we will do well in communicating with our core constituency to make sure that we regain our ground,” said Duma.
Tambo died after suffering a stroke in 1993 after having served the ANC from 1967 to 1991 when he was succeeded by the first black state president, Nelson Mandela.
Duma added: “We are going back to our roots. The ANC will remain a vehicle for the emancipation of South Africans. We are inspired today as we honour our legend who served our party and the nation with the vigour that comrade OR (Oliver Reginald Tambo) did during his time as a struggle icon.”
Among those who attended the lecture were long-serving ANC member and eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba and the speaker of the provincial legislature Nontombeko Boyce.
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