Wooing the Zulu vote pays off for South Africa’s ANC

By Ed Stoddard ISIMANGALISO South Africa (Reuters) – If the African National Congress maintains its 65 percent majority in South Africa’s May 7 election, it will be thanks in large part to rural ethnic Zulu voters such as Alfred Sabela. Before, we fetched water from the river,” said 43-year-old Sabela, standing by the makeshift shop from which he hawks carvings near iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a major tourist attraction in a once-neglected area. The ANC’s drive to develop this corner of KwaZulu-Natal province, 700 km (450 miles) southeast of Johannesburg, has paid dividends, notably by undermining the rival Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), once the regional political force. The IFP’s decline has accelerated under President Jacob Zuma, a 72-year-old Zulu with a rural upbringing and firm beliefs in traditional practices such as polygamy.