ANC wins big in Thabazimbi by-elections, MK Party finishes sixth, but council remains hung

The African National Congress (ANC) received the highest votes in the Thabazimbi local municipality by-elections, clinching 10 out of 12 wards securing 10 seats in the council.

The by-elections came after the municipality was dissolved, leaving all council seats vacant as there was no service delivery in the area and corruption was rife.

Despite the victory, the council will remain hung because no party won the outright majority. This will lead to a coalition for the council function. 

The collapse of the Thabazimbi Local Municipality, which left all council seats vacant, necessitated the by-elections.

This action was taken as a result of the council's severe financial problems and continuous service delivery issues.

Across 57 polling places in the area, almost 51,000 registered voters cast ballots in the by-elections on Wednesday.

There were 405 contenders from 21 political parties and five independent candidates for the hotly contested 24 council seats.

On Thursday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced the results, revealing that 19,812 individuals had cast their votes.

The IEC's Provincial Electoral Officer for Limpopo, Nkaro Mateta, told the media during a briefing that the ANC received the most votes, 39.65%, which translates to 10 council seats.

With 16.41% of the vote and four seats, the Democratic Alliance (DA) came in second. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won three seats with 13.32% of the vote.

With vote shares of 8.59% and 7.09%, respectively, the South African Labour Party and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) each won two seats.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party came in sixth with 3.4% and the Thabazimbi Residents Association (TRA) received 1.93%.

These two parties each took home one seat.

Despite winning 11 out of 12 wards in 2021, the ANC's performance in this by-election represents a decline.

In 2021, the ANC secured nearly half (47%) of the vote but fell short of an outright majority.

Three council seats were won by the Traditional Renewal Alliance (TRA), with 11% of the vote, and four by the DA, which received 15% of the vote.

After both parties elected two council members to the chamber, the EFF just overtook the FF Plus for fourth position.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

IOL Politics