ANC structures in KwaZulu-Natal have raised concerns over the delay in the delivery of party election posters, saying this could have a disastrous impact on the party’s campaign strategy.
With less than 40 days to go to the national and provincial elections, the ANC in the province confirmed on Tuesday that there had been delays in the arrival of a shipping container that carried posters, but 200 000 had arrived and more were expected.
The party’s strategy includes party President Cyril Ramaphosa spearheading campaigns in the areas with the deepest concentration of voters – the metros and former leaders of the party – and National Executive Committee (NEC) members campaigning in heavily populated metros and rural areas, highlighting the country’s economic recovery plan.
The party has set its sights on 14 million voters at the upcoming polls, with the strategy including senior leaders in government highlighting the achievements in infrastructure building, job creation and nation building in the past 30 years.
In KZN, the party faces fierce competition from the DA, IFP, EFF and the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party.
A senior party member, who asked not to be named, said structures had raised concerns over the lack of ANC posters ahead of the elections, and previously ahead of the final voter registration weekend in February.
“Concerns have been raised but there has been no information forthcoming.
Previously regions used to arrange for posters, then provinces and national.
“Now it is centralised in terms of procurement, so we are not sure whether the posters are coming from national or from the province.”
The source said this was a concern for party members, especially as the province was seen as a competitive political arena ahead of the ballot.
“A ward will have several voting districts and one or two posters in a voting area does not mean much. In order for people to get the message, ANC posters must be plastered everywhere, but this is not happening at the moment.
“Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are the biggest provinces in terms of contribution to the National Assembly and there is high contestation here ... these posters are crucial so that the message gets across to the voters,” the source said.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said there were posters in the province, but not at the level that the party would have desired.
“There was a delay in posters that were meant to arrive in the country from China. When they did eventually arrive, there were 200 000 posters but this is not sufficient.
“We are waiting for another batch, which is also delayed, to arrive, but posters are being put up in different areas.”
Mndebele said the ANC, unlike other parties, was not only prioritising main streets but would use their posters in different areas in the province.
He said the party had increased the number of billboards used in the province and had a “far-advanced social media presence”.
“Our campaign, in terms of our assessment, has geared up in the past few weeks and we are now at a desired level, however we have concerns about the delayed arrival of posters.”
Mndebele said the party was confident that the posters and all other election-related materials would be in place weeks before the election.
Political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast described the ANC not being visible through posters “as a setback”.
“You have to have posters for the purposes of visibility and to entrench your footprint. Other political parties, they have their posters up and there are ANC posters, but not on a large scale.”
Breakfast said it was not clear if this was due to financial challenges.
“In KZN, the ANC is intent on retaining power but the party has compounded the situation with the absence of posters.”
The Mercury