By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) announced that it has retained uMngeni Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in Wednesday’s local government elections with more than 60% of the vote.
The DA snatched the council from the African National Congress (ANC) during the 2021 local government elections.
With votes being counted in the 2026 local government elections, the DA has garnered 61%, MK Party has the second highest number of votes at 18% and the ANC is third with 15%
“For the last year we have become a beacon of hope for the rest of South Africa and our province as well. This result is testament that the DA has delivered. People who have never voted for the DA before have now put us back in power with an overwhelming majority,” stated Chris Pappas, whom the DA had put forward for re-election as mayor.
Dean Macpherson, the DA’s KZN provincial chairperson asserted that the party was on a substantial growth trajectory in the province.
“In 2024, the DA suffered a setback after the MK party received more votes than the DA in uMngeni. If it had been the local government elections, MK would have been the largest party. In the four 100% black township wards in the municipality, the DA has won every single one of them with a commanding majority,” Macpherson pointed out.
In the last elections, the DA won the council with 48% vote share after attaining 14 000 votes. During this current election, the party gained just over 24 000 votes.
Meanwhile with 31% of the total votes counted in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party is leading with 33%, followed by the ANC (25%), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) (22%) and the DA (10%).
Early results suggest that no party will receive an outright majority.
The MK party could secure a majority by working with the ANC or the IFP, together with smaller parties, to obtain 50% plus 1.
The DA, although it is in fourth position, is now positioning itself as a potential kingmaker, but its provincial leader, Macpherson, has warned political parties against entering into coalition agreements with MK Party.
Macpherson believes parties should first consider the wider political consequences of their decisions, warning that an agreement in KZN could have implications for coalition arrangements in other provinces and municipalities.
“I think that political parties need to take a long-term view and a wider view than just a narrow municipality, a narrow provincial government, because, as we all know, there’s a consequence and a reaction for every action. So, what a party may choose to do here could have other consequences in other provinces nationally, and so on.”
He went further, warning that parties choosing to work with MK risked inheriting what he called its political instability.
“We think that any party that chooses to work with the MK will be infected with that toxicity of the MK, that where they’ve had political stability they will now start having secretary-generals rolling through the door.”
“They will start to see the violence that comes with the MK, so we would caution political parties to avoid that sort of scenario.”
The final results will tell us which parties have the numbers to govern and how much negotiating power each will have in the coalition talks.