The battle for provinces ahead of the May elections

JOHANNESBURG - Analysts say the real theatre of play in the 2024 general elections is within the provincial landscape.

This is on the back of a convergence of different political parties in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa’s second most populous province at the weekend.

KZN much like Gauteng and the Western Cape are up for grabs, with pundits predicting that there will be no clear winner across these key provinces.

This is also the province that will have the most voting stations when the country goes to the polls on the 29th of May.

"It’s a hot pot province right now, because of the level of contestation that’s taking place, the way the MK Party has emerged on the scene, some of the by-elections they have been successful in, the continuing fracturing of the electoral landscape and the political landscape," said Political Analyst Sanusha Naidoo.

Meanwhile, the University of the North West’s Professor Kedibone Phago said the rise of the Umkhonto Wesizwe Party which is led by former African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma has put a serious spanner in the works for the governing party and other established organisations.

"This is why we see many political parties now realising that the ANC’s hegemony has been challenged significantly, that they are also rushing to make sure that the voters could also receive messages from their parties," said Phago.