Three by-elections were held across the country on Wednesday, two in the Western Cape and another in KwaZulu-Natal.
In Cape Town the DA easily defended a ward, winning more than 90% of the vote, up slightly from the 88% of the vote it managed in last year’s local government election.
In Cederberg, on the province’s west coast, the DA held a far more marginal seat. On Wednesday it won 45.7% of the vote, seeing off a challenge from the PA, which won a third of the vote, and the ANC, which won just above 20% of the vote.
The by-election became necessary after the previous DA councillor had been expelled from the party for voting with the ANC and the PA on the municipal council. The DA win in the ward now means that the DA, FF+, and a local party, Cederberg First Residents’ Association, will be able to continue to govern the municipality. The three parties hold six seats on the 11-seat council.
The last by-election was held in uMuziwabantu (Harding) in southern KwaZulu-Natal.
The seat had been held by Al Jama-Ah. The by-election became necessary when the Al Jama-Ah councillor, Mondli Ncane, defected to a different party, Sizwe Ummah Nation (SUN).
However, the IFP pulled off a spectacular victory here, winning just over 50% of the vote, after winning only 6% of the vote in last year’s local government election. Al Jama-Ah was practically wiped out, winning only one percent of the vote. In last year’s municipal ballot it had managed over 50%.
Ncane’s new party, SUN, won just under a quarter of the vote, with the ANC securing 16%.
The victory of the IFP in the region should be a warning sign for the ANC, which has generally dominated in southern KwaZulu-Natal. An IFP victory in an area which has generally been an ANC stronghold will be a cause of some concern for Luthuli House.