Three municipal by-elections that will test the resilience of South Africa’s key opposition parties, are to be held on Wednesday.
With the United Democratic Movement (UDM) having recently lost control of the city of Umtata — as a result of the loss of municipal by-elections — General Bantu Holomisa’s party will be looking to poll well in a seat in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, where it is standing for the first time.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi — which lost the province of KwaZulu-Natal to the African National Congress (ANC) in the national and provincial election in April — will be seeking to underpin a safe seat in Kwambonambi, KwaZulu-Natal, which it won in the 2000 municipal election with nearly 67% of the vote. The ANC then trailed in the seat with 33,26%.
While a win for the IFP can be expected, the tendency since the national election has been for the party to slip in its strong seats and lose marginal seats.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), meanwhile, has put up a black candidate in the central business district ward in Vanderbijlpark — with the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) expected to be its biggest challenger. The ANC is also standing.
The FF+ — which has put up a white Afrikaans-speaking candidate — will be looking to mirror its recent by-election win in Bloemfontein where it snatched a relatively safe DA seat.
The ANC won another municipal ward in Hartswater — in the Phokwane municipality — unopposed. – I-Net Bridge