Six municipal by-elections were held on Wednesday, one in the Eastern Cape, one in the Western Cape and four in KwaZulu-Natal.
In the Eastern Cape the ANC easily defended a seat in Ngquza Hill (Flagstaff), winning over 80% of the vote, compared to the 66.3% it won in the local government election (LGE) in 2021. On Wednesday it faced only token challenges from the UDM and EFF, which won 7% and 4% of the vote respectively.
In the Western Cape the DA defended a seat in Stellenbosch relatively easily. It won 72.6% of the vote in the by-election, a slight decline compared to the 2021 LGE. The DA faced only token opposition on Wednesday, with the only party to win more than 10% of the vote being the ACDP, with 16%.
In KwaZulu-Natal the ANC defended two seats and lost a third to the IFP. However, in the seats which it successfully held it saw a sharp decline in its share of the vote.
In Ray Nkonyeni (Port Shepstone) on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast, the ANC won 57% of the vote, a decline from the 66% it won in 2021. The IFP saw its vote share jump from 15% to 39%, with the EFF winning only 4% of the vote. In 2021 the Red Berets won nearly 20% of the vote in the ward.
In uMshwati (Wartburg) in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands the ANC’s vote share plummeted from 76.4% to 52.7%. The IFP was again the primary challenger, winning 44.9% on Wednesday, a jump from the 4.6% it won in the 2021 LGE. The EFF also saw a sharp decline in its support on Wednesday, winning only 2% of the vote, having secured 17% in 2021.
In Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) the ANC lost a seat to the IFP. The ANC won 38.4% of the vote in the 2021 LGE, with the opposition vote being split between the IFP and the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC). However, the ABC declined to field a candidate on Wednesday; most of that party’s supporters gave their votes to the IFP, which won 57.8% of the vote compared to the 11% it won in 2021. The EFF saw another decline in support, going from 14% in 2021 to 1.8% on Wednesday.
The final by-election was also in Msunduzi. Here the DA successfully defended a safe seat, winning over 95% of the vote on Wednesday.
The DA and the IFP will be relatively happy with the results while the ANC and the EFF will be concerned over the sharp declines in their support levels in KwaZulu-Natal.