Nquthu and Beaufort West are separated by 1 100km, spanning two provinces and several mountain ranges, but yesterday news of two electoral defeats stunned the ANC and its supporters.
The ANC had thrown in all its resources, particularly in Nquthu, a hung municipality after last year's local government elections where political differences prevented a ruling coalition from being formed.
The ANC suffered a series of defeats in wards in the crucial Nquthu by-elections on Wednesday in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A resurgent IFP won 14 of the 17 contested wards. The ANC won just three wards, as voters put their faith in the IFP to lead the municipality, giving it 19 seats of the council's 33 seats, with the ANC trailing with 11, and the DA, EFF and National Freedom Party one each.
Political analyst Bheki Mngomezulu said the IFP’s victory confirmed that there is a problem within the ANC, which makes it difficult for it to take control of a number of municipalities, not only in KZN, but nationally.
The ANC in the Western Cape attributed its failure to take control of the Beaufort West Municipality to the party's internal squabbles at national level, saying the organisation's scandals were hurting it in the polls.
A win for the ANC in Beaufort West by-election in Ward 7 would have meant the party could regain control of the municipality, which was governed by a coalition between the DA and the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF).
But the DA emerged victorious, retaining the seat it won in last year's municipal elections and increased its margin to 56.95% of the votes compared to 46.84% last year.
DA candidate Jacob Jeffrey van der Linde was running against the ANC's Stanley Nkanyezi, who got 41.33%, and the EFF’s Benjamin Faas, who received 1.72%.
ANC Western Cape secretary Faiez Jacobs said: “There is no doubt that the national sentiment had a role to play. It's very difficult given what is happening at the national level and the scandals. It does have an impact on our ability to campaign. The national sentiment has a strong influence."
He said the ANC’s December elective national conference would have a major impact on its ability to campaign in the province.
Of the ANC's defeat in Nquthu, Buthelezi said: “Factionalism in KZN has ripped the party apart, making it difficult for it to win by-elections. The ANC is aware of this situation. This is why it sent most of its senior members to canvas in Nquthu because it is aware there is a crisis it needs to manage from within.”
Super Zuma, ANC KZN secretary, said their heavy defeat in Nquthu would not have a bearing on their fortunes in 2019 because they had never won the Nquthu Municipality alone. It has always been an IFP municipality and the ANC was only contesting it.
The ANC co-governed the northern KZN municipality with the NFP following the 2011 local government elections.
“It is not a huge blow. It's not that they are taking it from us,” said Zuma. He said they would analyse the results to find out what happened and added that there had been a trend of other parties voting for the IFP to allow it to win wards.
Despite the results, Zuma said, the ANC had done enough to deeply entrench itself in the conscience of voters in Nquthu.
Blessed Gwala, IFP spokesperson, said the party had been quietly confident of success in the by-election because the people of Nquthu trusted the IFP and had witnessed the “maladministration and false promises of the previous administration”.
“We went to the electorate with the simple message of trust and they responded with confidence and we did not campaign using state resources and grand promises of service delivery.”