Zuma’s party rapidly gains momentum

Support for the ANC has fallen below 40%, a new opinion poll shows.

The finding suggests the country “will almost certainly” have a coalition government after the elections on 29 May, with the ANC losing ground to a new party founded by former president Jacob Zuma and the main opposition Democratic Alliance, according to the survey by the Brenthurst Foundation and the SABI Strategy Group.

The ANC’s support has shrunk to 39% from 41% and 44% in polls conducted last October and in November 2022 respectively, it said.

The party’s failure to end the electricity crisis, the collapse of state port and rail infrastructure, rampant crime and state corruption has left it facing its toughest electoral test since it came to power three decades ago.

Various opinion polls have shown it will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994, forcing it into a coalition with the opposition.

“We are heading for a transition away from one-party dominance, which can only be good for democracy, policy competitiveness, delivery and accountability,” Brenthurst Foundation director Greg Mills said in a statement.

The Brenthurst Foundation’s ranking of the ANC’s support is the lowest of any poll to date.

The party has been drawing big crowds to its election rallies, including the launch of its manifesto in Durban last month.

In the previous national vote in 2019, it attracted 58% support nationally.

Wrong way

Four of five respondents say SA is going in the wrong direction, citing high unemployment, graft, power outages and weaker leadership as their biggest concerns, the foundation said.

The poll shows Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party now ranks as the third-most popular, less than three months after it was founded. Its support now eclipses that of the populist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

“Voters appear to have left the ANC, EFF and IFP [Inkatha Freedom Party] for Zuma’s party in significant numbers,” the foundation said.

The phone survey of 1 506 registered voters was conducted from 12 to 28 February. –