South Africa

South Africa

Analysis: Tlokwe aside, no drama in September by-elections

Analysis: Tlokwe aside, no drama in September by-elections

Aside from the three much-publicised contests in Tlokwe, there were eight wards up for by-elections on Wednesday. All the wards were successfully defended by the incumbent parties. While there were fireworks aplenty in Tlokwe, these took place with little fuss. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

In the Eastern Cape, in ward 22 of Mbhashe (Idutywa), the ANC successfully defended its ward. The party had won the ward with 81% in 2011 (COPE 14%, PAC and UDM 2% each). The party retained the ward with 83% on Wednesday (IFP 7%, independent 6%, PAC 5%) while voter turnout fell from 65% to 53%.

In Gauteng, the DA retained ward 9 in Lesedi (Heidelberg). The party won the ward with 86% in 2011 (FF+ 8%, ANC 5%) and its candidate ran unopposed in the by-elections. In ward 4 of Merafong City (Carletonville) the ANC successfully defended its ward. The party had won the ward with 84% in 2011 (DA 11%) and its support dropped a notch to 69% in the by-elections (DA 24%, independent 6%). Voter turnout was sharply down from 60% to 36%.

In ward 33 of Ethekwini (Durban metro) the DA successfully defended a ward it had won with 71% in 2011 (ANC 23%, IFP and NFP 2% each). The party’s share of the vote rose to 92%.

In Limpopo, in ward 8 of Greater Giyani, the ANC had won the ward in 2011 with 86% (COPE 9%, independent candidate 2%). The party retained the seat with 83% of the vote on Wednesday (COPE 11%, APC and Ximoko Party both 3%). Voter turnout fell from 60% to 41%.

In the North-West, in ward 2 of Ramotshere Moiloa (Zeerust), the ANC had won in 2011 with 57% of the vote (independent 29%, UCDP 11%). The ANC increased its share of the vote to 69% on Wednesday (AZAPO 20%, UCDP 11%). Voter turnout fell from 55% to 43%.

In the Western Cape, in ward 6 of Drakenstein (Paarl), the ANC successfully defended the seat it had won with 89% in 2011 (COPE 10%, DA 2%). Support for the ANC dropped to 72% (independent 20%, DA 8%) in a poll that saw voter turnout fall from 65% to 49%. While the ANC did lose a chunk of support in this ward, the DA’s share of the vote didn’t improve significantly. The ANC may use this as proof that the DA doesn’t enjoy traction in black communities in the province.

In ward 8 of Mossel Bay the DA defended the ward it had won with 79% in 2011 (ANC 13%, ACDP 5%). The party’s support dropped to 64% (independent 27%, ANC 8%) and voter turnout fell from 66% to 45%. The DA’s drop in support was probably thanks to competition from former DA member Nicky Lodewyks, an experienced who ran as an independent after his party membership was terminated.

The winning DA candidate, Dirk Kotze, is younger and has less experience, but did have the support of the municipality’s business community and his party’s campaign machinery – the DA sent a number of their provincial cabinet members to the ward to campaign.

There’s very little to point to in these elections. The ANC lost some support in the Drakenstein and Merafong wards but its strong showing in Ramotshere Moiloa compensated for this. The DA had a very good showing in the Ethekwini ward but suffered a bit of a scare in Mossel Bay.

The ANC will have reason to be happy with its successful defence of these wards in a month where it had to throw considerable resources at its Tlokwe campaign. AZAPO should also be happy with the 20% it garnered in Ramotshere Moiloa. DM

(Daily Maverick is grateful to Nickey Le Roux and the Mossel Bay Advertiser for contributions to this report.)

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.