The Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP) has continued to eat at ANC support bases, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.
This after the by-elections that were held on Wednesday, wherein MKP won a seat that was previously held by the ANC at the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality.
MKP won Ward 14 of the municipality by 51%. It reduced ANC support in the Ward by a staggering 37 percentage points.
The ANC previously controlled the ward by a convincing 76%. And the by-election contest emerged as a result of a defection of the ANC councillor to the MKP.
The former ward councillor who jumped ship to MKP did not stand during the by-election.
With MKP winning Ward 14, the ANC has a majority by a mere single councillor.
ANC support dropped from 57% to 38%
In the same Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, in Ward 24, the ANC support dropped from 57% to 38%. But the party of Oliver Tambo still remained the majority party.
MKP emerged in second place, five percentage points shy of the ANC.
Also in KZN, at the Mpofana Local Municipality in Ward 4, the ANC retained the majority vote. This albeit dropping from 68% to 49%, a drop of 19 percentage points.
At Nkandla Local Municipality, the IFP remains strong after holding onto Ward four by an increased majority from 48% to 54%.
However, in this ward, the ANC was almost wiped out by MKP. The ANC dropped from 34% to 6%, while the MKP scored 40% of the vote.
In the urban areas of eThekwini municipality, the DA continues to dominate. The blue party retained all three wards that were contested in the by-election. These are in uMhlanga, Glenwood Umbilo and Durban North.
In these areas, ANC support that was poor, tanked further. This with a single percent on two while achieving two percent in the other ward.
Gauteng redeems former liberation movement
In Gauteng, the ANC redeemed itself at Ward 21 in the City of Joburg in Soweto by scoring 59%.
This is the ward where the party had deployed national, provincial and regional leaders to campaign.
Still in the CoJ, Ward 9 in Lenasia remained in the hands of Al-Jamah. With an improved electoral outcome from 49% to 60%.
In this ward, both the ANC and DA shed four percentage points worth of votes.
At Mogale City in Ward 12, the ANC improved its support by two percentage points to 61%. The EFF shed numbers from 24% to 14%.
In Limpopo, Free State and North West, the DA retained all wards that were contested in the Wednesday by-elections.
