/ 19 November 2009

ANC takes lion’s share in by-elections

The African National Congress (ANC) won 10 of the 14 seats at stake in this week’s municipal by-elections, including three from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Thursday.

The remaining four wards went to the Democratic Alliance (DA), among them one taken from the ANC in the hotly contested Western Cape.

The IEC said voter turnout varied from 23,1% to 55,8%.

The ANC kept wards in Umzimvubu in the Eastern Cape, and Mogale City and Westonaria in Gauteng.

Also in Gauteng, the DA held on to seats in Midvaal and Kungwini.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC kept one seat, in Mandeni, and ousted Inkatha from two seats in Newcastle and one in Mbonambi.

In Mpumalanga, all three seats on offer were retained by the ANC.

In the Western Cape, the DA took one City of Cape Town ward, ward 32 in Atlantis, from the ANC, and kept a Swartland seat with an increased majority.

Voting in all the by-elections took place on Wednesday. — Sapa