ANC: Eastern Cape is not a Cope stronghold

The “myth” that the Eastern Cape was now a Congress of the People (Cope) stronghold was debunked by the by-election results, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Thursday.

ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said the ANC won all the contested wards in the Port Elizabeth metro.

These wards were under contestation as the councillors had resigned and moved to Cope.

By-elections took place in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape on Wednesday.

ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said the first time the myth about the Eastern Cape was debunked was by an overwhelming turnout at the launch of the ANC’s manifesto.

The second time the myth that the Eastern Cape was a Cope stronghold was debunked was when about 60 000 people turned up for an election rally, he said.

And the third time the myth was debunked was in the latest by-election.

Duarte said the ANC had also won back all its wards in the Northern Cape.

“The hype around the ANC losing to other parties has finally been put to rest,” Duarte said.

However, in KwaZulu-Natal, the Inkatha Freedom Party snatched three wards from the ruling party.

Duarte said there were no reports of violence in any of the wards contested in the by-election.

Compared with the results of the January by-elections, Duarte said the ruling party had done much better.

Not all the by-election results had been released by noon on Thursday, but they would be made available as the day progressed.

In a statement issued earlier, the ruling party said that while by-election results were not a reliable indicator of broader voting trends, the party was pleased that it fared better in this round of by-elections.—Sapa