In by-elections where the one has greater chance of victory, the other will step back in order to remove the ANC from power.

With ANC support in KwaZulu-Natal declining, the IFP and DA have forged ties as part of attempts to dislodge the ruling party from power in the 2024 provincial elections. Part of this joining of forces, will see the DA step back in an upcoming by-election to give voters the option of removing the ANC from power by voting for the IFP.

While the ANC in KZN was able to garner 54% of the vote in the 2019 elections, support for the ruling party in the province dropped to below 50% in last year’s municipal elections.

The DA and IFP are currently working together in the province’s hung municipalities such uMhlathuze in Richards Bay and Abaqulusi in Vryheid.

DA and IFP strengthening relationship

DA provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson says the two parties have recently met as part of efforts to strengthen the relationship.

“In late October 2022, the DA conducted bilateral talks with the IFP to bolster their relationship with a view to pursuing common interests, the most pressing of which is to remove the corrupt ANC from power in KwaZulu-Natal.”

DA to assist IFP in eThekwini’s Ward 99 by-election

As part of the cooperative agreement between the two political parties, the DA agreed to assist the IFP in the upcoming eThekwini Municipality Ward 99 by-election.

Located in the south of Durban, Ward 99, which includes the Umkomaas area, became vacant following the recent murder of ANC eThekwini ward councillor Mnqobi Molefe.

Macpherson says allowing the IFP to take on the ANC in Ward 99 would be an effective way to ensure that the ANC was defeated.

“The DA has taken the decision to step back from contesting this by-election to allow our voters the option to remove the ANC from power in Umkomaas once and for all. This makes strategic sense with the IFP being a bigger party in the ward.”

“It is a view shared by the IFP that where the DA has a greater chance of victory, they too would step back to assist in removing the ANC.

“This will also have important consequences in the eThekwini Municipality, which is governed by a fragile ANC-led coalition,” he says. The DA’s decision not to field a candidate, Macpherson says, is in the interest of the community of ward 99.

“The DA is committed to being at the centre of rational politics in our country for the betterment of the lives of all South Africans,” he says.

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