DURBAN - THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal narrowly won a by-election in uMvoti (Greytown) on Wednesday, in what the ruling party says was an encouraging sign that the people still believed in it.
The ANC emerged victoriously in ward 13 during the by-elections contested in uMvoti municipality, pipping both the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) and the IFP.
The council position became vacant after the murder of the previous ANC councillor Thembinkosi Lombo. Lombo was gunned down while walking to a food outlet to buy lunch in February. He had just left a council meeting when the shooting took place. A man was arrested in connection with his murder.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said: “We are extremely grateful for the efforts, hard work, selflessness and commitment of the ANC supporters and volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure the victory of the vanguard movement of the South African revolution.”
The ruling party acknowledged that competition with other parties for votes had been tough and said it welcomed with humility the outcomes of the by-election as released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
“We want to extend our profound gratitude to the people of uMvoti who came out in numbers to exercise their democratic right and voted ANC.
“We commit ourselves to improve the quality of life of our people and not only in ward 13 but in the province at large, and while we recognise the global economic crisis, the ANC will put an extra effort in growing the economy to ensure better lives for all.
“We have sensitised our newly elected councillor Sihle Ndlovu of the magnitude of the work that lies ahead,” Ntombela said.
The ANC also noted that it had been a tight race.
“Looking at the real figures, wherein we received a total number of 755 votes and an overall voter turnout of 43%, we are concerned about a narrow win.
“We take this as a learning experience which will inspire us to do more and speed up service delivery programmes,” Ntombela said.
In other by-elections on Wednesday, the ANC lost two seats to opposition parties in Gauteng and the Northern Cape yesterday. In Gauteng, the seat was won by the EFF while the DA won in the Northern Cape. It retained two other seats in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, respectively.