Bloody nose for ANC in poll
BY-ELECTION: RULING PARTY WINS 18 SEATS IN MTUBATUBA
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal will have to find a coalition partner in Mtubatuba after winning only 18 of 36 seats in Wednesday’s by-elections, leaving it with a choice between the Inkatha Freedom Party, the National Freedom Party, Economic Freedom Fighters or the Democratic Alliance.
Inkatha Freedom Party happy to remain in opposition.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday failed to deliver on a promise the party would register an outright victory in Mtubatuba, in the north of the province, to avert a situation where it would be forced to form a coalition.
The ANC won 18 of the municipality’s 36 seats in Wednesday’s by-election – leaving the ruling party in need of a coalition partner to achieve a majority in the council.
The ANC, which won 12 out of the 19 contested wards, will have to enter into a partnership with either the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – which won seven wards – to give it 15 seats, or the National Freedom Party), the Economic Freedom Fighters or the Democratic Alliance, all of which won a single seat.
Municipal by-elections became necessary after the council was dissolved two months ago following bickering between ANC and National Freedom Party councillors. These two parties had jointly controlled the area since the 2011 local government elections.
Meanwhile, the IFP, which had been the official opposition in local government since 2011, indicated it preferred to continue in that role, rather than enter into a coalition with the ANC.
“The IFP will use its victory to make sure that the Mtubatuba municipality returns back to its glory. We will hold the ANC to account by ensuring that services such as water, electricity, roads, housing and health services are delivered to the people,” said IFP national chairperson Blessed Gwala.
“We will make sure that we monitor the performance of our councillors and government departments so that all the promises they made in Mtubatuba are met.”
The ANC, which for years had been struggling to increase sup- port in the province’s rural areas, said even though it could not secure a majority vote, it nonetheless was impressed with the results.
“We are very pleased with the victory. People have realised that the ANC is their only hope and we will do all in our power to make sure that we change Mtubatuba for the better,” provincial ANC secretary Sihle Zikalala said.
He said the results in Mtubatuba were the ANC’s warning shot to opposition parties ahead of next year’s local government elections.
Zikalala would not say if the ruling party had approached any of the opposition parties in the municipality regarding coalition arrangements. –