Durban - The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has tightened its grip on the Umhlabuyalinga local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal after snatching a ward from the ANC.
JUST IN: The IFP has won the tightly contested Umhlabuyalingana local municipality by-elections (ward 19). On its way to the top it elbowed out (it got 1919 votes) its chief rival, ANC (which got 1361 votes) and the EFF.
In a tightly contested by-election where parties accused each other of vote rigging by allegedly bussing people from other wards, the IFP’s Phumlani Sifiso Mabika was eventually elected as the new councillor for wars 19.
The party obtained 52,90% of the total votes cast compared to 41,09% it obtained in November 2021.
The ward was previously held by the ANC, and it became vacant when its councillor resigned on the eve of a motion of no confidence against the IFP leadership - thus throwing a spanner in the works of the ANC-EFF alliance.
This victory allows the IFP space to hang on to it, although with a slim majority.
The IFP’s chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Thami Ntuli, said by voting out the ANC, the people of Umhlabuyalingana liberated themselves.
NEWS: According to official IEC by-elections results, the EFF snatched a ward from the ANC at Dihlabeng local municipality (Bethlehem) in the Free State province. The same ANC also lost a ward to the IFP at Umhlabuyalingana
“The IFP congratulates the people of Ward 19 for liberating themselves from the control of the ANC, which continues to put itself and its leaders ahead of the people’s needs and interests.
“Society has come to realise that the IFP is the party to trust for efficient service delivery for the betterment of the people.
“This victory is also a clear indication that the ANC is selfishly and undeservingly holding on to power in uMkhanyakude District, even though it is not in the majority and the people of uMkhanyakude continue to reject it,” Ntuli said after the victory.
The ANC is yet to comment following the shocking electoral setback.
Meanwhile, the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) said the by-election in Ward 15, Mandeni Municipality (KZN291, KwaZulu- Natal), which was originally scheduled for 26 April 2023, is now scheduled for 24th of May 2023.
It said that was due to the changes in the proclamation date of the by-election by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Bongi Sithole-Moloi.
In other by-elections across the country, according to official IEC results, the EFF snatched a ward from the ANC at Dihlabeng local municipality (Bethlehem) in the Free State province.
In this ward, the IFP was contesting for the first time, and it managed to only get a small portion of the vote.
The new EFF councillor in the ward is Malefetsane Shadrack Mokoena.
However, the ANC was able to hold onto one ward in the Western Cape (Overstrand local municipality), where it retained its seat won in the 2021 Municipal Elections, with 36,67% of the total votes cast, compared to 56,36% during the 2021 Municipal Elections.
The new ANC councillor is Bongiwe Gloria Nombula.
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