Zille says 2024 polls have been defined by the 'ethnic identity vote'
Speaking to Thembekile Mrototo in an Eyewitness News special, the DA federal chairperson said she had no doubt the opposition party would win the Western Cape by an overwhelming majority.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille at the national IEC results centre on 30 May 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Political parties are on tenterhooks on Thursday evening as the results of the 2024 elections begin to trickle in.
Speaking to Thembekile Mrototo in an Eyewitness News special, Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille said she had no doubt the opposition party would win the Western Cape by an overwhelming majority.
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"I think we are going to hold an overwhelming majority in the Western Cape. And we will go forward in the rest of the country, nationally. So I am comforted by the results," Zille said.
Commenting on the rise of new kids on the block uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Zille said this year's elections had been defined by ethnic identity politics.
"We've seen it very strongly in two groups. The Zulu-speaking group has cast a massive ethnic nationalism vote in this election - that's what accounts for MK's very rapid rise in KwaZulu-Natal. And to a much lesser extent, the PA amongst coloured South Africans has also played on the ethnic identity vote. The ethnic identity vote - trying to split off coloured people as a separate entity - very much [along] apartheid lines” she added.
At the time of publishing, the African National Congress (ANC) had over 1,5 million votes, followed by the DA with 897, 332. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is sitting at 320, 888 votes, the MK Party had 309,037, and the PA sat at 135,134 votes.