By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has called for the investigation into ward 11o (Mount Moriah Sunningdale) by elections in eThekwini.
The ward was previously governed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), and it includes Phoenix, Mount Royal, and Umhlanga in the northern part of the city of Durban.
The MK Party won the ward with 2 435 votes, and the DA came close with 2 413 votes. The ANC only received 966 votes in its former stronghold.
Other contesting parties included the EFF, they received only 14 votes, and the NFP, bagged a meagre nine votes. The IFP and ActionSA did not participate in the by-election.
ANC Task team Co-ordinator in KwaZulu-Natal, Mike Mabuyakhulu, “What we are raising is based on the evidence that we are having people who registered at least 135 people in supposedly one household.
It’s a glaring thing and supposedly another group of people registered in a flat. All we’re asking for is that the IEC should actually investigate this matter because we want to trust the IEC and we do trust the commission.
This latest triumph adds to MK Party’s momentum, following back-to-back by-election victories in March in Ward 2 in Richmond and Ward 28 in KwaDukuza. Both wards were previously governed by ANC that had to relinquish its hold on those wards.
The next round of by-elections will be in Mandeni, in the north of KZN, which has become another of the MKP’s stronghold, on 30 April. While the ANC won the ward in 2021, MK Party emerged as the most popular party during the 2024 national general elections.
MK Party’s secretary-general, Floyd Shivambu, is confident the party would “decisively” win the ward.
The MK Party was formed in 2023 and contested the national elections last year, managing to win 58 seats in the National Assembly, which has 400 seats. In KZN, the MK Party’s most solid base, the party won 37 seats in the provincial legislature, with 80 seats.
Ward 6 (Randfontein Greenhills) Rand West City, West Rand: DA 71% (83%) ANC 22% (14%) EFF 4% (3%) FF+ 3% AAAIC 0.
The setting: Greenhills is a suburb close to the town centre of Randfontein, and the seat of power is Rand West City. Rand West City is centred on Randfontein, Bekkersdal and Westonaria. Famous Randfontein sons are soccer player Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe and photographer David Goldblatt.