ANC has right to defend its gains and seek renewed mandate in KZN - Mantashe

DURBAN - As the Democratic Alliance (DA) attempts to hold its largest gathering in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, the African National Congress (ANC) has hit back at the opposition’s criticism of the governing party’s latest election campaign, dubbed the invasion of KwaZulu-Natal.

The DA’s election campaign comes after the governing party unleashed its top brass in the province in an intensified bid to retain majority.

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This will also see former President Thabo Mbeki taking to some of the communities in KwaZulu-Natal.

With the parties battling it out for KwaZulu-Natal again, the ANC said it had every right to defend its gains.

According to the ANC’s national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, its campaign to invade KwaZulu-Natal, which includes national executive committee (NEC) members engaging with communities across the province, means just one thing:

"We are campaigning. We are political and that’s what we are doing. We have not insulted anybody. We have not stoked any violence."

He rejected an assertion by the DA in the province that theirs was a bid to stoke fears in a province that has had a fair share of violent incidents.

Mantashe told Eyewitness News that while the ANC might have views on other parties, it’s not gone out of its way to insult any, despite some of the unsavoury remarks made about it.

"One leader here said: 'These people are evil, don’t vote for them'. We have not taken that person to the IEC [Electoral Commission of South Africa], because he says we are evil."

Mantashe said the ANC had every right to defend its gains and to seek a renewed mandate in KwaZulu-Natal.