ANC retains three seats, loses one to PA in by-elections

By Thebe Mabanga  

The African National Congress retained three seats and lost another to the Patriotic Alliance in Wednesday’s by-elections held across the Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.

But in a worrying sign for the ANC, it retained power with a reduced majority in most instances, which does not bode well for momentum ahead of next year’s local government elections.  

In the Free State in Ward 16 in Ngwathe Local Municipality in the Fezile Dabi district, the ANC retained its seat with 47 % of the vote. But this was down from 62% in the 2021 local government elections.

The ANC’s new councillor is Martha Motsoeneng. The EFF was another big winner in the ward, raising its share of the vote from 18% to 35%. The MK Party got 15% of the vote from a voter turnout of 56,74%.  

In the Eastern Cape, Kenneth Witbooi won a seat for the ANC in Ward 5 of the Kou Kamma Local Municipality in the Sarah Baartman District with a borderline victory of 49,66 %, similar to the 50,21% that the ANC polled in the 2021 elections. 

The Patriotic Alliance got 36% while the DA got 11%, both down by a percentage point from the 2021 election while the EFF was wiped out from 4% to 1%.  

The ANC just about held on to a seat in Ward 6 Okiep in the Nama Khoi local municipality in the Namakwa District.

Leonard De Jongh held on to the seat by 39%, down from 66% in the 2021 local government elections. 

The ANC will choose to focus on the positive that it retains a tenuous grip in a municipality where in a by-election earlier this month, it won a seat off the Namakwa Civic Movement. The PA won 30% of the vote while the Namakwa Civic Movement got 17%, compared to 16% in 2021. The DA polled 13 %. Voter turnout was 61,7%.  

Sutherland is South Africa’s coldest town due to its high altitude, about 1,5km above sea level and clear skies. The ANC felt its wintry chill when it suffered a historic loss in Ward 4 in Karoo Hoogland Municipality to the Patriotic Alliance after Sandra Muller defected from the ANC to the PA.

The ANC will point out that this is how it has lost many of its seats to the MKP mostly in KwaZulu-Natal, by councillors swapping their colours for another party. 

The PA got 51%, up from 37% in 2021, while the ANC came in at 49%, up from 45%.  With no other major parties on the ballot such as the DA, Muller appeared to have pulled ANC voters across with her.  

The PA adds this seat to others it has recently won, including in Johannesburg.  

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