Durban - Queues at voting stations pose the greatest threat to the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal in the 2014 general elections, and not opposition parties, it said on Wednesday.
Voters deciding not to vote because of the long queues at polling stations were the biggest problem, African National Congress provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala told reporters in Durban.
“The problem we have is when people reach long queues they go away and don't vote. Once people are in the voting station they will vote for the ANC. With regard to opposition which poses a threat: not even a single one. We are not concerned about opposition.”
He said the ANC had analysed the threats faced by the party, and while he would not disclose all of them, he said opposition parties did not feature in those threats.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy secretary Nomusa Dube said the ANC was not concerned about a recent poll indicating that its overall support could fall to 53 percent of the vote in the election.
“It doesn't bother us. We live beyond what the headlines say. We talk of issues. We talk of policies. You could look at the credibility of some of those polls or reports that are issued. You could tell even before you read the actual report and see people are making their own stories,” she said.
The fact that the party was in government meant it would automatically receive more criticism.
“When you work, you get criticised because you are doing something. If you are not doing anything, nobody is going to criticise you because you are not going to make mistakes.”
Zikalala said the ANC welcomed all parties to campaign in all areas of the province. He was asked about the incident at Nkandla over the weekend when ANC supporters threw bottles and stones at Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.
“Don't reach a conclusion. Allow the police to deal with the matter. We will deal with that matter when police have finalised that matter. If the report we get suggests that certain steps must be taken, they will be taken.”
Zikalala said that while the incident had been highlighted in the media, the shooting of ANC members in Estcourt had barely made the news.
Sapa