DA makes history with first Gauteng township ward victory in Evaton West

Ward 28 (Evaton West) Emfuleni, Sedibeng: DA 32% (16% PR) ANC 32% (53% PR) EFF 12% (18% PR) PA 8% PAC 6% (1% PR) SACP 3% AEF 3% DITAU 3% ACP 1% TRUTH <1%

The setting: Ward 28 is on the western side of Evaton township. Evaton sits above Sebokeng. The bulk of the ward’s voters find themselves between the N1 national road linking Grasmere Plaza with the turn-off to Randfontein and the R553 regional road linking Vanderbijlpark with Orange Farm.

Evaton West is also known as Mkhelele, named in honour of legendary soccer player Helman Mkhelele. Simon “Bull” Lehoko, who plied his trade for Kaizer Chiefs, was born in Evaton. Sesotho is the most widely spoken language in Evaton, with well over half of the residents speaking it. Evaton forms part of Emfuleni, the most-populous non-metropolitan municipality in South Africa.

The 2021 local government election: The ANC won just over half of the proportional representation (PR) vote, sweeping all four of the PR ballots. It won over 50% of the vote in three of the four voting districts. It did best in the area of Sonderwater, just next to Evaton West, where it won 61% of the PR vote.

The EFF came second here on the PR ballot, beating the DA by 73 votes, and finishing ahead of the DA in three voting districts. The EFF obtained 23% support at the Apostolic Faith Mission in Beverly Hills – its best showing in the ward. The DA was third on the PR Ballot. Its best showing was 19% at the Water in the Wilderness Ministries voting district, the only district where it beat the EFF.

The reason the point of comparison is the PR ballot is because an independent candidate ran here in 2021. The candidate came fourth on the ward ballot with 9% support, but was not on the ballot for the by-election.

The 2024 provincial election: The ANC came first with 46% of the vote, well down from 71% in 2019. The DA was second with 19%, up from 9% in 2019, and the EFF third with 14%, slightly down from the 17% mark in 2019. The uMkhonto Wesizwe party (MK) was fourth with 12%. The ANC did best at Sonderwater where it obtained 58%.

The DA’s best showing was at the Water in the Wilderness Ministries district with a 21% return. The EFF found the most favour at the Apostolic Faith Mission with 18%. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) both received 1%.

The by-election: The ward councillor, Cedric Davids, was accused of taking money for illegal stands on private property. He resigned from the ANC and joined a local party, Tau Dia Rora. He was not the party’s candidate for the by-election. The South African Communist Party (SACP) was also on the ballot. MK elected not to contest the by-election.

The ANC approached the Electoral Court at the 11th hour to have the by-election postponed because of unlawfully registered voters. The application was rejected.

The DA beat the ANC by eight votes for a shocking upset victory. The party doubled its support from 2021 and made big gains from its growth in 2024 on the provincial ballot.

Water in the Wilderness Ministries was pivotal for the DA. It was the only district won by the party, as it managed 144 more votes than the ANC. The turnout here was 36%, lower than two other districts. The DA almost doubled its percentage support here from 2021, getting 37% of the vote, with the ANC falling from 52% to 21%. This was the only voting district where the PA made a mark in the by-election, obtaining an impressive 25% to finish third in this district. The EFF was fourth here with 12%, down from 18%.

Just under one-third of the voters showed up at the most-populous district in the ward, Beverly Hills High School. The ANC beat the DA by 45 votes here. The ANC declined from 52% to 34% while the DA grew from 17% to 29%. The EFF finished third with 16%, slightly down from 18% in 2021. The PAC will be pleased with its 15% return in this district.

In the ANC stronghold of Sonderwater its vote share declined from 61% to 43%, while the DA surged from 8% to 29%. African Economic Freedom (AEF) was third here with 12%, as the EFF fell from 16% to 6%.

At the Apostolic Faith Mission voting district, the ANC edged the DA by one vote, with both parties getting one-third of the vote. The ANC slid from 49% to 33%, while the DA grew from 15% to 33%. The EFF was third in this district, declining from 23% to 15%. The SACP had its best showing here with 10%.

Maki Tshabalala becomes the first ward councillor for the DA in a Gauteng township ward.

The ANC falls to 37 seats in the 90-seat council, while the DA climbs to 25. Incidentally, every single ANC councillor is a ward councillor. The DA now governs in eight of the 45 wards.

Poll: 36% (41%)

Ward 2 (Mmabatho Masuthle) Mahikeng, Ngaka Modiri Molema: ANC 73% (58%) EFF 20% (29%) UCDP 7%

The setting: Ward 2 is northwest and west of the North West provincial capital’s town centre. Most voters in the ward live on the outskirts of Mmabatho. The village of Masuthle has the second-highest number of voters in the ward. Masuthle lies between Mmabatho and the Botswana border. The ward also includes the two small villages of Kabe and Modimola.

The dominant language in Ward 2 is Setswana. Musicians Cassper Nyovest and Khuli Chana hail from this municipality.

The 2021 local government election: The ANC came close to beating the EFF by two votes to one. It swept all five voting districts, doing best in the villages of Kabe and Modimola, winning 74% and 65% of the vote, respectively.

The ANC won just over half the vote in Mmabatho. The EFF did best at the Mailakgang Primary School district where it took 40%. Its second-best return was 29% in Mmabatho.

The 2024 provincial election: The ANC came first with 59%, with the EFF finishing on 21%. ActionSA was third with 8% and the DA fourth with 5%. The ANC won all five voting districts, with Mmabatho the most competitive.

The by-election: The ward councillor died suddenly. The ANC and the EFF were joined by the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) on the ballot. The party was a fixture in North West politics in 1999 but has steadily faltered since then.

The ANC was dominant in this by-election, beating the second-placed EFF by 913 votes. The party won between 78% and 83% of the vote in four of the five voting districts.

In Masuthle it won 79% and 83% in the two districts. In Kabe it took 81%, while in Mmabatho it would have celebrated its high 78% return. In Mmabatho the EFF finished behind the UCDP with 6%. This was the only district where the UCDP got into double percentage figures (15%).

The village of Modimola was the most competitive, with the ANC getting 51% of the vote against the EFF’s 42%. The turnout was the second highest in this district. The EFF did way better here than in any other district, with its next-best return coming in at 16% in one the Masuthle districts.

It must be noted that there was a significant drop-off in turnout in Mmabatho, with only 15% of voters showing up, well down from 39% in 2021. The low turnout will worry both the ANC and the EFF. There could have been a stayaway effort in this part of the ward, since the turnout was as high as 68% in Modimola and 71% in one of the Masuthle districts.

Poll: 42% (42%)

The next round of by-elections will be on 10 June. The PA will defend a seat in Swartland (Malmesbury) in the Western Cape. The tabled by-election in uMzumbe, KwaZulu-Natal, was not proclaimed. This means there are no more KZN by-elections between now and the local government elections in November. DM