Durban - The DA by 8am today, had more than 60% of the vote in the hotly contested uMngeni Municipality in the uMgungundlovu District with the ANC, which had previously held the majority vote sitting at more than 25 % and the EFF at 3%.
Although 23 000 votes had been counted, with predictions of a low voter turnout, this was an early indicator of a swing in the running of the municipality.
The area has 12 wards and the previous local government elections saw the majority vote in favour of the ANC. However, there was a 9% difference between the two parties and in the run in to yesterday’s elections, the DA in KZN and particularly provincial party leader Francois Rodgers, appeared to be buoyant about swinging the municipality away from the ruling party.
uMngeni encompasses areas like Howick, Hilton and Mpophomeni.
“It’s been a specific target, we are 9% away from bringing the ANC to the lower 50% which is 2 500 votes, and it’s a project that we started a while ago and we now feel confident with the amount of work that we’ve done that we stand a very good chance of bringing the ANC to the lower 50s on November 1.
“We would consider going into a coalition with any political party that has like-minded policies and principles and is focused on effective service delivery. If we can sit around a table and put a memorandum of understanding together where we all recognise what our roles and responsibilities are, that’s something we’ll certainly consider,” Rodgers said.