One by-election was held on Wednesday in Abaqulusi (Vryheid) in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The IFP retained its seat, seeing its vote share grow by more than ten percentage points (as compared to its record in the 2021 local government elections). The party managed to get 46.5% of the vote on Wednesday.
The ANC was the IFP’s closest challenger, winning 31% of the vote, nearly double the share it won in 2021.
Jacob Zuma’s new MK Party came third, with 20% of the vote.
The EFF came fifth with 1% of the vote. The Organic Humanity Movement did slightly better than the EFF on Wednesday, which means that the Red Berets would have to be happy with last place.
Turnout was low, with only a quarter of voters turning up, but the IFP will be relatively happy with its performance. It was a decent day at the office for both the ANC and the newcomers from the MK Party.