The battle over who would control the North West province continues, with the ANC clearly retaining the majority of the regions, if not all.
These elections caused some concern when new political parties such as umKhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party) and the African Transformation Party, both of which are led by former key ANC members, invaded the province.
To date, the ANC remains number one, with a new party, MK Party, rising to fourth place, displacing existing parties such as ActionSA and Forum 4 Service Delivery.
Party pleased with result
The ANC welcomed the massive lead, saying this year’s election reflected the ANC’s work.
“We are really pleased with the current numbers received. We anticipate over 65%. [Currently] we are at 60.1%. Therefore we are hopeful that the remaining 40% would provide at least 10%,” said the party’s provincial spokesperson, Tumelo Maruping.
He said the majority of votes were from Rustenburg, Madibeng, and Taung. “That is where we received the most votes. North West is the ANC province because it is its stronghold,” he explained.
He admitted that the ANC has good policies, but that some of them are not implemented. “We are going to concentrate on administration. We have a policy statement, but execution is essentially the responsibility of government administrators. And there are certain government officials who are dragging their feet in implementing those policies. So we’re focusing on the administrators and the state itself. We will ensure that people do what the ANC government wants them to do. And if they do not, they will suffer the consequences,” he said.
VF Plus remains fourth-largest party
The VF Plus appears to be on course to remain the fourth-largest party in the North West province. Despite the poor voter turnout, particularly at larger voting stations, where some were as low as 30%.
“This demonstrates that many voters were discouraged from voting on Wednesday. Average voting times at larger stations lasted as long as four hours. So far, we’re on pace to keep our seats in the North West legislature,” said its member De Wet Nel.
He said the party has done well in the more rural areas.
“We did exceptionally well percentage wise, this is also the areas where local government has collapsed. The voter turnout in the more densely populated areas has a low voter turnout. This raises the question of whether voters were discouraged to vote with long queues or not,” he said.
But MK Party says the VF plus is bluffing. Its election coordinator, Tebogo Mashilabele, said they are currently ranked 5th and intend to get up even higher.
“These elections are now over, and we will hold municipal elections in 2026. We desperately need the people’s help to improve the circumstances in which they find themselves,” he said.
DA still optimistic of a win in the province
As voting results trickled in, the Democratic Alliance believed it was doing well.
“When you check our 2019 performance, we were on 10.9%. We are now around 12.4% and we are still moving . Now we are around 2% higher than where we were. The DA in the province focused a lot on urban areas and townships.
“[In] Potchefstroom, Matlosana Rustenburg, we have quite done well. We have even increased a seat or two at the legislature,” he said.
He admits that much more work remains to be done in rural areas because villages are so prevalent in that province.
“This time around, following the EFF, it’s immediately us. This means we can move on with the numbers that we’ve received in those villages. We wanted the ANC to be less than 50%. And we’re still hoping to drive them up to around 52%, which would be fantastic for us,” he said.
Bad news for Magashule’s ACT
Ace Magashule’s The African Congress Transformation (ACT) lags well behind. They appear to have failed to secure even a seat in the legislature.
Ngaka Modiri Molema’s ACT chairperson, Achie Oliphant, expressed satisfaction with the outcome. “Our party is just nine-months-old. At least all regions fared well. We didn’t have enough time to campaign. The expectation was for us to have a seat in the legislature. But the difficulty was that the party was new,” he explained.
