Rustenburg - The African National Congress (ANC) retained ward 19 in the Mahikeng municipality, a move they describe as an indication of trust the people have in the ruling party.
"We are pleased with the victory and retaining this ward, an outcome that indicates the trust and support our people still have in the congress movement in Bokone Bophirima [North West]. This victory also confirmed that the community of Ward 19 is happy to extend the mandate of the ANC to be the leader of society," North West provincial spokesman Gerald Modise.
The party retained the seat it won in the 2016 Municipal Elections, with a reduced margin of 41.19 percent of the votes cast compared to 62.22 percent in the 2016 Municipal Elections.
The ANC obtained 491 votes, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 334 votes (28.02 percent) Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) obtained 318 votes (26.68 percent).
"The leadership of the ANC wishes to express gratitude and sincere appreciation to the ANC volunteers of Tata Nelson Mandela and Mama Albertina Sisulu, for their sterling commitment to the implementation of the programme of these by-election," Modise said.
"The same appreciation goes towards the management and staff of the Independent Electoral Commission for running fair and inclusive elections that saw all participating political parties running their campaigns peacefully."
In KwaZulu-Natal the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) wrestled a ward 7 in Mthonjaneni from the ANC with 52.17 percent of the votes cast compared to 51.57 percent won by the ANC in the 2016 Municipal Elections.
The IFP obtained 1188 votes, while the ANC obtained 1006, National Freedom Party (NFP) obtained 53 votes and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) obtained 30 votes.