By Thebe Mabanga
The Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) continues to make waves in by elections, this time winning a seat in Mandeni within the iLembe District Municipality in Kwa Zulu Natal.
Over the past few months, MKP won seats off the ANC in the same district municipality in KwaDukuza and yet another in Pongola and last month won its first metro seat in Ward 110 in eThekwini, where it narrowly beat the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The MKP won the seat with 41.89% of the total votes cast. The IFP came second with 30% of the vote, up from 13 % in the 2021 Local Government Elections.
The ANC was the biggest loser as it saw its support collapse from 66% to 27% while the EFF saw a slide from 14% to just 1%.
Voter turnout was 48.18%.
Councillor Lindani Xhakaza won the seat, which became vacant following the tragic killing of Phendukani Mabhida.
An industrial area with sugar cane and paper milling plant dominating the landscape, Mandeni would have felt economic stagnation and loss of jobs as the sugar industry suffers from cheap and illegal foreign sugar imports and government took long to respond with a floor tariff and put in place a sugar industry Master Plan.
Jobs would have likely dominated the election agenda.
The ANC should have seen this defeat coming.
According to figures from the IEC and analysis by Daily Maverick, the MK won 70% of the vote in Ward 18 (Isithebe) pushing the ANC to a distant second with 16% after the 2024 National and Provincial Elections. This is after the ANC had garnered 69% of the vote in the 2019 general elections.
The analysis also shows that the MK won all three voting districts, while the IFP tripled its support. Compared to the 2021 Elections, the ANC lost over half its support.
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