Durban – It’s official the ANC has lost its outright majority in eThekwini, the only metro in KwaZulu-Natal for the first time since the dawn of democracy.
This emerged on Thursday afternoon when the IEC declared 100% of the votes, the electoral body announced that counting had been completed for the economic hub of the province. The ruling party slipped from 57% it received during the 2016 municipal elections to a paltry 42.2%.
Both the Da and the EFF emerged as the big winners with the DA coming in second place with 25.62% of the voter share while the red berets scored 10.48% with the IFP becoming the fourth biggest party in the metro receiving 7.13%.
Reacting to the surprising turn of events, provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the party would sit down and reflect on what had gone wrong.
“We are prepared to enter into a coalition with any party. We will immediately engage our members to reflect on this outcome,” said Ntombela.
EThekwini is the ruling party’s biggest and influential region which for years had been crippled by infighting. Leading to the 2021 municipal elections, the ruling party also lost its influential leader Zandile Gumede after being forced to step down because of legal troubles. Analysts believe that the Gumede factor had dealt a heavy blow for the party with many of her followers opting to stay away from the polls.
The next mammoth task for the ruling party is brokering a deal with other parties to control the metro. Party heavyweights led by Jeff Radebe are already in the province heading coalition talks.
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