The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is pinning its hopes on the eThekwini metro to help boost the party’s voter tally.
The governing ANC has been under siege since the vote counting began in the province. Results show that its splinter group uMkhonto weSizwe was likely going to cause an upset. By early afternoon, the MK Party had recorded the highest number of votes, with over 60,000 of the 20% of the votes counted.
Only a fraction of provincial votes have been counted
The former ANC president Jacob Zuma-led MK Party had, by 3pm on Thursday, won 43.3% of the votes. Trailing behind were the ANC with 20.69% and the IFP with 18.67% of the votes. The ANC received 54% in the last elections in 2019 in KZN.
The ruling party will take solace in the fact that the eThekwini metro, one of its key constituencies, has yet to declare its votes.
According to KZN head of elections Ntombifuthi Masinga, about 98 voting districts are undergoing a counting process, with only Mooi-Mpofana the only municipality that has concluded vote counting.
“We are sitting at just over 17% of results that have been audited. [Some] voting stations are still counting in the province. We have a total of 98 of them, which makes up 2% of voting stations [counted],” said Masinga.
She explained that the voting stations are mainly concentrated in the eThekwini metro, uMgungundlovu and Ugu district.
“But there are other smaller figures in other parts of the province. [These include] Inkosi Langalibalele municipality, Dundee and Newcastle. [Also] Manguzi, Big Five, KwaDukuza, Ndwedwe, Ixopo and Kokstad. The bulk is still in the metro alone, which accounts for 18 of the 98 stations. There are still counting in the province,” she further explained.
The election body also announced that it experienced a late surge in the voter numbers. This overwhelmed presiding officers, especially in the metro.
ANC support dwindled in the province
While the ANC has been a dominant party in the only metro in KwaZulu-Natal, its support dwindled during the 2021 municipal elections. It recorded just over 45% of the of the electoral results. The party had to rely on the EFF and other smaller parties for it to cling on to power.
According to Masinga, by Sunday, we would have known who would form government in one of the strategic provinces in the country. There are already predictions that province might be governed through a coalition.
The province contributes 16% to the county’s GDP, the second-biggest contribution after Gauteng.
