The sands have shifted in the Emfuleni Local Municipality, once an ANC stronghold, as there was no outright winner for the first time in two decades after the ANC support in the area significantly dropped by 16.9 percent.
The ANC led the local government election results votes with a total of 39.71%, followed by the DA with 26.91% and the EFF with 15.59%.
Emfuleni has always been an ANC stronghold, with great support coming in 2006, when the party won 76% of the vote. However, since then its support has decreased gradually. The previous polls in 2016 saw it win 56%.
The ANC-led municipality has been one of the worst performing municipalities in the country. Emfuleni was placed under administration due to financial mismanagement and lack of service delivery in 2018.
Residents in the area have been struggling to receive the service they deserve and voted for. They have been living with sewage spillages in the streets, shortage of water, electricity supply, poor maintenance of road infrastructure and lack of refuse collection. This translated to the voters saying enough is enough with the collapse of service delivery.
Linda Xaba said he had been supporting the ANC in the past elections but refused to vote this year.
“I have realised that I don’t get anything. These people are just looking after themselves. We asked them to provide us with street lights and fix the roads and they have failed. So I saw no reason to vote,” said the 56-year-old.
Another resident, Angie Dikgwele, said she voted for opposition parties.
“I have been supporting the ANC and my heart is always with them. But I get angry when I see our area. I have been living here since 1991 and there’s still no development. This is sad, the ANC has forgotten about the people.
“I think the coalition will deliver services to the people. I know these other parties will push them to work for the people,” she said.
Lawrence Kutu also believes that the coalition could improve service delivery in the area.
“I think losing support is a wake up call for the ANC. Next time they will respect and serve the people. People are tired of lies. Unemployment is high and they tell children to be educated and the next thing they don’t create jobs. I think a coalition will help the ANC to improve service delivery."
He added: “Another reason people didn’t vote is because of corruption within the party. These officials had been stealing money that was meant to improve the living conditions and no one was arrested.”
In 2018, the Hawks launched an investigation into R870 million worth of irregular expenditure awarded by council during the 2016/17 financial year. Several investigations in 2019 by a forensic firm uncovered potential fraud, corruption and maladministration involving a number of contracts.
Last month, Eskom attached the municipality’s bank account following its failure to pay R3.5 billion owed to the power utility. The municipality also owes R1.3 billion to Rand Water.
Sewage spillages and water leaks are the norm. This is despite R3 billion that was spent on local wastewater treatment plants between 2011 and 2018. These plants continued to discharge raw sewage into the Vaal River, Kip River and Riet Spruit.
Several suburbs, including Drie Riviere, Duncanville, Falcon Ridge and Soland Park experienced power cuts because the installation of smart meters turned into a costly debacle due to Emfuleni’s lack of planning and foresight - it did not honour its 2013-17 contract with supplier BXC.
Parts of the municipality were plunged into darkness without warning.
Emfuleni council consists of 90 members elected by mixed member proportional representation. 45 councillors were elected by first-past-the-post voting in 45 wards, while the remaining 45 were chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
In the 2016 elections, the ANC won a majority of seats on the council by 50. The DA followed with 22 seats and EFF with 11.The governing party also won 38 wards while the DA had 7.
However, the 2021 elections saw the ANC managing 38 seats in the council while DA and EFF obtained 24 and 14 seats respectively. This also saw both the ANC and DA retaining their wards.
DA caucus leader in Emfuleni Edward Von Bodenstein said the DA’s 24 seats in council translates to an increase of 2 seats.
“We are obviously happy with the increase in the number of seats in the council. However, we had hoped to do much better, albeit the low voter turnout. We have realised some of the growth from our non-traditional areas - being the townships. We feel that a bedrock has been laid down in preparation for the 2024 provincial and national elections,” said Von Bodenstein.
He said a coalition is something that political parties will have to live with.
“However, in choosing coalition partners, which discussions are currently being held at national level, the DA is very clear that it will only go into coalition with parties who share its values and principles.”
“The ANC has got 39% of the votes and this is by and large a message which has been sent by the electorate to punish them for failing to institute their constitutional mandate, which is service delivery to the residents of the municipality,” he said.
Newly formed New Horizon Movement (NHM) also won a seat in the council. Its president and mayoral candidate Bishop Vincent Jones said the achievement was a good start.
“We had less than 6 months to put the campaign's infrastructure together, zero budget; and the pandemic (Covid-19) were some of the odds against us. But in spite of it all we did well. It’s not the kind of results we hoped for but we’re pleased to have a foot in the door,” he said.
Asked if the NHM would enter into coalition with the ANC or the DA, Jones said coalition is a political concept and NHM is a non-political movement with a vision to depoliticise municipalities.
“Therefore, entering into any form of coalition with any political party would be a betrayal to our own vision. However, we are prepared to work with any political party in a non-political manner with the sole purpose of bringing quality service delivery to the people of Emfuleni.”
Asked if the results were a reflection of poor service delivery in the area, Sedibeng ANC representative Sipho Nhlengethwa, who dubbed himself an RET coordinator, did not respond to the enquiry.
Sunday Independent