Durban - ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma will lead the governing party’s elections campaign before crucial by-elections in the province on Wednesday, the party has announced.
The ANC in KZN said on Tuesday that senior leaders have been dispatched to a number of municipalities where by-elections are taking place this week, including Maphumulo, Mthonjaneni, uMsinga, Vyrheid and uMdoni municipalities.
The by-elections come after the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) declared vacancies in some wards due to deaths or the resignation of councillors who had been elected in the 2021 local government elections.
Duma is expected to lead volunteers in ward 11 in Maphumulo Municipality in northern KZN in a bid to encourage eligible voters to endorse the ANC.
The ANC chairperson will be joined by officials, members of the Provincial Executive Committee and volunteers who will visit different polling stations in three regions.
"We plead with supporters and members of the community to come out in their numbers and vote for the ANC,” said Duma.
He added that the ANC viewed the by-elections as a chance to reconnect with voters.
“The ANC through the campaign seeks to recommit to its mandate of further advancing people’s power by delivering quality services, developing local economies, and ensuring the integration of our communities," the ANC KZN chairperson said.
This past weekend, the ANC and its political rival the IFP deployed senior leaders, including former president Jacob Zuma and IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa respectively as part of the drive to court voters before the by-elections.