Johannesburg - Most of the wards up for municipal by-elections were retained by the parties which had held them, according to results released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Thursday.
The only two wards which broke the trend were Ward 33 in North West, where an independent candidate won the ward from the African National Congress, and Ward two in Matzikama (Vredendal) in the Western Cape, where the ANC claimed the ward from the Democratic Alliance.
The by-elections were held on Wednesday in 15 vacant wards in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape and the Western Cape.
In Gauteng, Ward 28 in the Mogale municipality, Ward 10 in Randfontein and Ward 58 in the City of Johannesburg were retained by the Democratic Alliance. The Tshwane metro's Ward eight was retained by the ANC.
Ward 58 was previously held by DA councillor Zaytoon Waja, who resigned, citing difficulties with the ANC in the area.
The area consists of Fordsburg, Mayfair, Mayfair West, Crown North, Homestead Park, Langlaagte, Pageview, Vrededorp, Jan Hofmeyer, Vredepark, Burgersdorp, and Amalgam.
The ANC said earlier in the week that its previous loss in the ward was not because of the strength of the DA, but because it lacked focus on polling day.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Ward four in the Hibiscus Coast (Port Shepstone) municipality, Wards one and eight in Umtshezi (Estcourt), and Ward 14 in Nqutu were retained by the ANC.
In the Eastern Cape, Ward 21 in Intsika Yethu (Cofimvaba) and Ward nine in the Aganang municipality Limpopo, and Ward 10 in Ga-Segonyana (Kuruman) in the Northern Cape were retained by the ANC.
In Mpumalanga, the ANC retained Ward four in Mkhondo (Piet Retief) and Ward one in Mbombela (Nelspruit). - Sapa