Smaller, newer parties licking wounds

AFTER bruising defeats, independent candidates in Tshwane and Madibeng have sworn to put the story of their poverty behind them and focus on the 2024 general elections.

Ahead of the poll, the contestants who made their debut in the election expressed optimism that they would spring some surprises by securing council seats.

Yesterday, they sang a different tune after the audited results by the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) showed that they had performed dismally.

The leader of Arusha Economic Coalition, Ali Mlazi, whose party failed to secure even a single seat in the Tshwane Municipality, said the intention was to lick their wounds and focus on the future.

“This is a project, and we just have to continue and plan better. Obviously, the critical component is resources, but we will plan better. In two years from now we have got another election,” he said.

Unlike Mlazi’s party, Save Madibeng, a civic movement organisation based in Madibeng Municipality in the North West Province, managed to secure three seats in its debut election contest.

Its leader, Tshepo Mokono, said: “We have high expectations because of the insight we got from the community, that people are not happy with service delivery.

“We have been intervening on their behalf against the ANC-led municipality. We are very disappointed that the very same people are going back to the same abuser.”

However, he said Save Madibeng felt good to have three representatives in council to embark “on the struggle inside council and outside as the vanguard of communities”.