Battle for the metros: ANC and DA fight as MK storms eThekwini LGE 2026

President Cyril Ramaphosa has brushed aside election polls placing the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party ahead of the ANC in eThekwini, insisting that his party remains focused on winning the metro.

An Ipsos poll placed the MK Party at 55% in eThekwini among respondents who expressed a party preference, compared with 17% for the DA and 10% for the ANC.

Ramaphosa said the ANC was receiving a positive response from residents and maintained that the party had the experience needed to run the municipality.

Our people are responding very, very positively. They know what is good for this metro. They know what is good for our municipalities.

The President also addressed the deployment of soldiers to support police in KwaZulu-Natal, saying the decision followed requests from residents and local leadership.

We’ve deployed the army in many other places in our country and it is yielding really good results for us. We expect that the very positive results will also ensue here.