ANC Gains Seat in Wednesday By-Elections

Two by-elections were held yesterday, with the African National Congress (ANC) winning a seat in Mpumalanga while the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) defended a seat in KwaZulu-Natal.

In Mkhondo (Piet Retief) in Mpumalanga the ANC won a seat off an independent, Walter Vilakazi.

In the 2021 local government elections (LGE) Vilakazi had won the seat with 45% of the vote with the ANC winning 38%.

The by-election became necessary as Vilakazi, who had also served on the municipality’s mayoral committee, had passed away.

The ANC won yesterday’s poll with 54% of the vote, with the main challenger being the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), which secured 36%.

The ANC now holds 22 of the council’s 38 seats.

The other by-election was held in uMfolozi, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The IFP defended the ward fairly easily. Yesterday it won 62% of the vote, up from the 51% it won in the 2021. The primary challenger was MK, which won 21% of the vote. The ANC brought up the rear, with 16%, down from the 43% it managed in 2021.

The ANC will be pleased with its performance in Mkhondo, but the result in uMfolozi shows that the ANC continues to be on the backfoot in KwaZulu-Natal and is likely to do poorly in the province in the next LGE, likely to be held about a year from now.