Infighting boosts DA
Indian voters snub their traditional choices
THE falling-out between bickering Minority Front councillors and a “racist” rant by an ANC senior official proved fortuitous for the DA, political experts said this week.
Election results finalised on Friday showed that the coveted Indian vote represented a drop in support for the MF and the ANC in traditional areas.
Since the death of MF leader Amichand Rajbansi in 2011, the party has been plagued by infighting and a court battle.
Former MF parliamentary representative Roy Bhoola challenged the leadership of party leader Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi.
Last week, the now suspended chairman of the ANC in Chatsworth, Visvin Reddy, unleashed controversy by commenting on social media that South African Indians were “whiners” and ought to go to India to compare their quality of life there to that in South Africa.
Independent political analyst Sanusha Naidu said the ANC went out on a cultural campaign to capture the Indian vote.
She said the party used its close alliance with key individual Indian businessmen as a basis to promote the president’s interaction with the Indian community.
“President Jacob Zuma failed to address the real concerns of working-class Indians. The Indian vote is not homogeneous . . .
“There are Indians who have benefited from the ANC government through tenders and they are instrumental in aligning Indians to vote for the ruling party.”
Naidu said working-class Indians were not confident enough in the ANC to vote for it.
University of KwaZuluNatal political science academic Imraan Buccus said a party built on an ethnic minority view without a clear vision, like the MF, particularly for young people, was destined to fail.
“The DA has offered some kind of hope in the midst of what some perceive as the failed Zuma presidency. The DA still relies a great deal on the market to deliver — they are not as committed to state intervention in terms of social delivery as the ANC is,” he said.
“About 50%
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