Three by-elections were held on Wednesday, all seats held by the ANC. The ANC successfully defended two, while being shocked by MK in the Western Cape.
In the Johannesburg inner city, the ANC successfully defended a marginal ward. In the 2021 local government poll, the ANC had been the biggest party in the ward, winning just below 50% of the vote, with ActionSA and the EFF being the primary challengers. On Wednesday the ANC saw its vote share increase to nearly 60%, with MK winning 21% of the vote and the EFF 16%. Turnout was very low, at only 16.8%.
In Joe Morolong, a Northern Cape municipality on the province’s borders with North-West and Botswana, the ANC fought off a spirited challenge from the EFF. The ANC vote share decreased marginally compared to 2021, to just above 50%, with the EFF winning nearly 40% of the vote. MK brought up the rear with 6%.
The final by-election was in Saldanha Bay, where the ANC was defending a marginal ward.
In the 2021 local government election, the ANC had won only 30% of the vote, but in a fractured field, this was enough to see the party emerge as the single biggest and thus win the ward. Its main challengers in that election had included the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party (SRWP), which is affiliated to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, and which had won 17% of the vote. The DA, GOOD, and the EFF had all won around 12% of the vote, with the PA winning about 4%.
On Wednesday the MK stormed in from nowhere, securing 36% of the vote, enough to make it the biggest party in the ward.
The ANC saw its vote share decline marginally to 26%, with the EFF winning 15%. Both GOOD and DA saw their vote share crater, both parties winning below 2% of the vote, while the PA won 20%.
The SRWP didn’t field a candidate, and it’s likely that at least some of its support went to MK.
Overall, this won’t have been a bad day at the office for the ANC, but MK’s performance in the Western Cape will concern party strategists.