ANC wins some, loses some

2010-07-22 14:20

Johannesburg - The ruling ANC lost support in eight wards, mainly in the Eastern Cape, Mupmalanga and Western Cape in municipal by-elections on Wednesday.

However, it gained voters in another eight wards, the majority of them in the Free State.

The African National Congress also wrested a ward from the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal, while the Democratic Alliance continued making inroads in the Western Cape where the ANC lost the Mitchells Plein ward to the opposition party.

According to results posted on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) website on Thursday, the ANC won in 19 of the 26 wards countrywide, while the IFP won in three wards and the DA won in four wards, in the Western Cape and North West provinces.

IFP loses support

The IFP lost significant support in the three wards it had won, compared to the last local government elections in 2006.

In all three wards, Mangosuthu Buthelezi's traditional Zulu party saw its support drop by around 20%, even in its historical strongholds of Nongoma and Ulundi.

The ANC took the Mthonjaneni ward from the IFP, where, four years ago, the opposition party had won 57% of the vote. But on Wednesday, the ANC walked away with 56.5% of the vote in that same ward.

But while the ANC could celebrate successes in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, where it won in all eight wards, including a ward in Naledi that was previously held by an independent candidate, its results in other provinces were more sobering.

The ANC experienced slight increases in its support in the Free State, but its losses in Mpumalanga and the Western Cape were significant.

In the Eastern Cape, it won in all three wards but support was slightly down.

However, the ANC saw serious drops in support in all three wards in Mpumalanga - in the case of Mkhondo, by nearly 20%.

DA does well in Western Cape

In the Western Cape, the DA won in three of the six wards. This included it wresting a ward in the City of Cape Town from the ANC. In the last local government elections, the ANC had won 43% of the vote there, but on Wednesday, the DA won nearly 52% of the vote.

The ANC won in three of the six Western Cape wards, but lost support in two of those, by 20% and 11% respectively in the two City of Cape Town wards.

But the ruling party gained about eight percent support in the third City of Cape Town ward it won.

The DA's three ward victories were all gains - one was taken from the ANC and two others from the Independent Civic Organisation of SA.

The DA was also king in the only North West ward where by-elections took place. It increased its support in Madibeng, Brits by 22%.

A total of 52 551 votes were cast in the 26 by-elections.

That is 33.4% of the total number of 157 337 registered voters in those wards.

- SAPA