Johannesburg – Independent candidates that broke away from the ANC looked set to gain more support in the ruling party’s traditional strongholds in the Free State and the North West.
A group of former ANC leaders called MAP Civic Movement was gaining ground in Maluti-A-Phofung local municipality, which falls under the Thabo Mofutsanyane district municipality, the biggest region of the party in the province.
With 41% votes counted, the independent organization, which was contesting its first local elections, emerged in the second position with 24.34% (12,838 votes). The ANC was leading the race to win the council with 41.69% (22,012 votes).
The municipality, which has been a stronghold of the ANC since 1994, has been plagued by instability and service delivery issues for years.
This led to the municipality being placed under administration by the provincial government in February 2018.
The MAP Civic Movement won 10 of the 15 wards previously held by the ANC during the August 2019 by-elections.
In the North West, Freedom 4 Service Delivery looked set to eat into the support base of the ANC in the platinum province.
As of 16h00, the party had garnered close to 2% (6413 votes) of the provincial vote – which could have gone to the ANC.
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