Pay dirt: (Left to right) IFP chief whip Narend Singh, IFP provincial chair Thami Ntuli, DA provincial chair Dean Macpherson, and DA deputy chair Sithembiso Ngema. The two parties’ cooperation agreement is paying off in KwaZulu-Natal. Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
The cooperation agreement between the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal regarding by-elections has again paid off, with the parties taking another crucial ward off the ANC in Zululand.
On Thursday, the IFP’s Sibusiso Ndunakazi won ward 13 in uMhlathuze local municipality, which covers Richards Bay and Empangeni, in a by-election in which the DA did not field a candidate and backed him instead.
The ward had previously been held by the ANC, but the council seat became vacant after the sitting councillor, Lindokuhle Ndlovu, resigned in July, days after he survived an assassination attempt in Mpembeni, which falls under his ward.
Ndunakazi took 53.38% of the vote in the ward, increasing the IFP’s seats in the municipality, which it controls through a coalition with the DA and the African Christian Democratic Party, to 25.
Ndunakazi beat the ANC’s Thandeka Mkuthswa and Lucky Nzima of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to win the hotly contested ward, for which the ANC’s top provincial leaders turned out to campaign.
Voter turnout in the ward increased from 63.32% in November 2021’s local government poll to 64.85% on Thursday, with the IFP making up ground from both the ANC and the EFF, which took 31 votes.
In September last year the IFP took ward 12 at uMhlathuze off the ANC in another by-election in which it joined forces with the DA, consolidating its support in the municipality and setting the stage for this week’s victory.
The strategy has also paid off in eThekwini, Mthonjaneni and in other KwaZulu-Natal municipalities and has helped change the balance of power at local government level away from the previously dominant ANC.
IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli described the victory as “impressive” and “stunning”, saying it ushered in an era of balanced political dynamics in the city, where it and the ANC each now have 25 seats.
Ntuli said the IFP dedicated the victory to the memory of its founder, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died earlier this month.
The outcome is a boost for the IFP, which hopes to take the province back from the ANC with the assistance of the DA and other parties involved in the Multiparty Charter for South Africa.
Ntuli said it sent a message ahead of next year’s national and provincial elections that the IFP was “a dominant force in the province” and was an indication of the party’s “unwavering commitment to the people and our readiness to lead”.
The ANC also lost ward 3 in the Maquassi Hills municipality in North West, this time to the EFF.
The EFF’s Lehlohonolo Metoa took 46.89% of the vote in the ward, which became vacant because of the death of the ANC councillor elected with nearly 65% of the vote in November 2021.
The ANC did better at Madibeng in North West, where its candidate, Keaobaka Sefike, took 85.86% of the total votes cast, an improvement on the 62.78% it got in 2021.
The ANC also retained ward 11 in Limpopo’s Blouberg municipality, where its candidate, Mokgadi Molokomme, took 64.84% of the votes cast, down on 84.51% in 2021 of all ballots in the ward.