Bruising: An MK supporter holds a by-election poster in Umzumbe, where the party won one of six wards available. Photo: Darren Stewart/Getty
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has failed in its bid to strip the ANC of control of the Umzumbe local municipality through Wednesday’s by-elections, with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) taking half of the six seats that were up for grabs.
The IFP was the biggest winner in the 11 by-elections in KwaZulu-Natal, taking seven of the wards available, while the ANC won one ward at Umzumbe and a second at the uMzimkhulu local municipality.
Jacob Zuma’s party took only one of the six wards vacated by the resignation of ANC Umzumbe councillors who defected to the new kid on the block, which secured 45% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal in the 29 May general elections.
While MK party leaders and supporters had identified the by-elections as a key opportunity to build on their huge gains in the province and further undermine the ANC, only former speaker Sibonelo Maphumulo managed to retain a ward.
Maphumulo, who was expelled by the ANC in February, led the move of the party’s Umzumbe councillors to the MK party, which secured the largest share of the vote in the municipality on 29 May.
The MK party had hoped to shift the balance of power at Umzumbe away from the ANC and use a win there to convince ANC councillors in other municipalities — including eThekwini — to resign and force by-elections through which it could make immediate gains.
But in Umzumbe, Khulekani Msomi and Thabiso Ngwazi won two wards for the ANC, which has run the municipality for decades, a result that, coming off the recent losses, will provide the party with some form of relief.
The other wards vacated by the resignations went the way of the IFP, which used its provincial arrangement with the Democratic Alliance (DA) to elect Phumzile Qwabe, Sabelo Zuke and Sizwile Zuma as its new ward councillors.
While the MK party has won its first ward off the ANC in a by-election — no mean feat for a party that is less than a year old — it will be disappointed that it could not replicate the impressive results of 29 May.
The party has not yet set up formal structures because it was launched only in December 2023 and had focused on the national and provincial elections rather than setting up branches, which will have fed into its poor showing on Wednesday.
It failed to turn the dominance it holds in KwaZulu-Natal into votes at the local level, something that will be of serious concern for the MK party, with a local government election set for 2026.
The DA and IFP did not contest one another in the by-elections at Umzumbe, a tactic they have used since the November 2021 local government elections to take wards from the ANC in municipalities around the province.
The IFP also further consolidated its position in the Mthonjaneni, uPhongolo, uMvoti and Nongoma municipalities, where its candidates took all of the wards that were up for grabs in Wednesday’s by-elections.
IFP deputy provincial chairperson Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala said the results showed both the support people had for the party and their backing of its decision to participate in a unity government.
“It is evident that the residents of KwaZulu-Natal support the IFP’s decision to form a government of provincial unity in the province, which will ensure swift and effective service delivery that will put the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal first,” he said.
The uMvoti result spells the beginning of the end for Philani Mavundla’s Abantu Batho Congress (ABC), which did not win a single seat in the national and provincial elections and is losing further ground at local government level.
The DA’s Muzi Ndlovu, who was previously a proportional representation councillor for the party, emerged victorious in the battle for Newcastle’s ward five, taking 30.85% of the vote.
DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers said the result was “encouraging” and would assist in the party consolidating its base ahead of the local government elections in 2026.
The DA took a total of seven wards in by-elections held nationally on Wednesday, a result that will strengthen its hand in the government of national unity negotiations, which are likely to also have an effect on the local government level.
It made a clean sweep in the by-elections in the Western Cape, taking three wards in the City of Cape Town and three in the Beaufort West local municipality, where it took one off the ANC and reclaimed a further two that it had lost to the Patriotic Alliance.
The result will give the DA outright control of the Beaufort West municipality, which has been run by a coalition consisting of the ANC, the PA, the Good party and the Karoo Democratic Force, a further consolidation of its strong showing in the Western Cape on 29 May.
DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers said the party had not just taken wards off the PA and ANC, but had also grown its support in the town and for the first time would be able to govern alone.
“This victory ushers in a turning point for the municipality, which has for years been wrought with corruption, mismanagement and poor service delivery,” Simmers said. “The DA has a proven track record of good, clean governance and we are committed to fix what has been broken and rescue Beaufort West.”
In the City of Cape Town, the DA retained the three wards that were contested and improved on its vote share in each of them.
In ward 64 and ward 113 the DA took more than 97% of the vote, while in ward 89, the party secured slightly under 90%.
Simmers welcomed this growth in the DA’s vote share.
“Support for the DA in the metro grew at the national and provincial elections on 29 May and today’s results confirm that Capetonians chose the DA to continue to deliver to residents,” he said.