By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) retained ward 73 in Chatsworth, eThekwini, with an increased majority of 81.74% while the African National Congress (ANC) received 17.66%. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) received 0.61%.
KwaZulu-Natal DA leader Francois Rogers said the party was encouraged by the support.
He said the significant increase in support in ward 73 came despite “desperation” shown by the ANC sending the party’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Chatsworth ahead of voting day.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for the ANC. The party retained two wards during Wednesday’s by-elections — Umzimkhulu ward 12 and Mandeni ward 15.
The ANC retained ward 12 at Umzimkhulu, one of its historical strongholds, with 65.73% of the vote, defeating the IFP (25.04%) and the EFF (9.23%).
Although the result is a victory for the ANC, the party will be concerned by the growth shown by the IFP, which has battled to do so in the southern KwaZulu-Natal town. In 2016, the ANC took 92% of the votes in ward 12, dropping to 72.9% in November 2021.
In Mandeni ward 15 the ANC grew its voter share to 68%. The IFP received 18%. Mandeni registered the EFF’s strongest performance in the three by-elections with 14%.
In Gauteng, the DA also retained ward 25 in Ekurhuleni, securing 66.12% of votes over the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), which got 19.56% and the EFF 10.81%.
Both the EFF and the FF+ have been growing in the ward since 2016, when the DA took 74% of votes.
In ward 8 in Lesedi municipality, the DA also held its majority, taking 52.45% of votes ahead of the FF+, which took 21.18% and the EFF 9.56%.