Cape Town – The ANC has described the outcomes of this week’s by-elections, including taking over a DA ward in the Cederberg Municipality, as a positive building block towards an “overwhelming victory” in the local government elections in 2021.
The party’s victory by Maxwell Heins with 57.85% would enable the ANC to take over the council, according to the party’s interim provincial committee member Songezo Mjongile, who posted on social media.
The ANC retained five other seats across the country during hotly contested by-elections on Wednesday, according to the Electoral Commission of SA.
Forty candidates from 12 political parties and three independent candidates contested the by-elections in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
The Freedom Front Plus also took one seat from the DA in the Jb Marks Municipality in North West. The DA retained three of its wards.
ANC national head of elections Fikile Mbalula said: “The ANC retained all its wards and the results confirm the disintegration of the DA, who also lost more than 15% support in two wards they retained.
"Voters continue to see the ANC as the only trusted vehicle that will transform their lives. As the ANC, we do not take this confidence for granted.
"We are determined to redouble our efforts in our quest to expand access to a better life for all,” said Mbalula.
The DA’s Western Cape leader, Bonginkosi Madikizela, said the party fought two hotly-contested by-elections in the province: Ward 3 in Clanwilliam (Cederberg Municipality) and Ward 14 in Langebaan (Saldanha Bay Municipality).
“The DA is disappointed by the results in the Ward 3 by-election in Clanwilliam, and we will analyse the results and engage with local leadership to understand why our supporters stayed away.
"We had hoped to hold on to both these wards and our campaign teams worked around the clock to make sure that every registered resident cast their vote,” said Madikizela.