DA growing, but ANC firmly in charge
2011-05-21 22:23
Pretoria - South Africa's local government elections were officially declared over on Saturday night by the Independent Electoral Commission in Pretoria.
At a closing ceremony attended by political leaders from across the spectrum, the governing African National Congress remained firmly in charge of the nation's municipalities, taking just under 62% (61.95%) of the vote nationally.
The opposition Democratic Alliance took just under a quarter of all votes - 23.94% - while the Inkatha Freedom Party continued its decline, managing to garner just less than 4%(3.57 ) of votes across the nation.
In the new local government dispensation the ANC will run 198 councils, including most major metros except for Cape Town which was won outright by the DA.
The DA will run 18 councils and the IFP five.
DA leaders expressed pleasure at their party's growth. In the country's first inclusive national election in 1994 the then Democratic Party led by Tony Leon took only 1.7% of votes nationally.
- SAPA
