The African National Congress retained nine wards in by-elections held in six provinces, while the Democratic Alliance retained its two wards in the Western Cape, according to results released by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) on Thursday.

By-elections were held on Wednesday in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo and Northern Cape. In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC retained Ward Two in the Richmond municipality. The party’s candidate Welcome Thamsanqa Tshelembe stood uncontested.

The ward was previously represented by the governing party, but became vacant when the councillor resigned. Ward Six in the Richmond municipality was contested by the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party.

DA retains Western Cape wards

The ANC retained the ward with 83.35% of the vote for its candidate Jethro Jili. A by-election was held in the ward after the previous ANC councillor resigned.

The ruling party also retained Ward 10 in the Imbabazane municipality (Loskop) with 54.21% of the vote for its candidate Lungisane Derrick Mnculwane. The DA retained the two wards contested in the Western Cape.

Ward 72 in Cape Town was contested by the DA and the ANC. The DA’s candidate Kevin Graham Southgate won the ward with 96.94% of the vote. The ward became vacant after the previous DA councillor resigned.

In the Witzenberg municipality (Ceres) the DA’s Patric Daniels retained the ward for his party with 47.14%. The previous DA councillor in the ward, Petrus Heradien, had been expelled from the party. He contested Wednesday’s by-election as an independent candidate.

The ANC retained two wards in the North West. No by-election was held in Ward Five in the Moretele municipality because the ANC’s candidate Salaminah Mmapula Matlou stood uncontested. Limpopo, Mpumalanga wards retained by ANC.

Ward Two in the Moretele municipality was also retained by the ANC. The ward was contested by the ruling party, an independent candidate and the African Independent Congress.

ANC candidate Onica Mashabane won the ward with 84.34% of the vote. The former ANC councillor had resigned. One by-election was held in Limpopo and one in Mpumalanga. Both wards were retained by the ANC.

In Limpopo, Ward 11 in the Maruleng municipality (Hoedspruit) was won by the ANC’s Tebogo Daniel Mogale with 77.43%. The ward had become vacant when the previous ANC councillor resigned.

Ward 17 in the Albert Luthuli municipality (Elukwatini/Carolina) in Mpumalanga became vacant when the ANC councillor resigned. The ward was retained by the party’s Ryder Mandla Motaung who received 76.75% of the vote.

In the Northern Cape, Ward One in the Karoo Hoogland municipality (Fraserburg) the ANC’s Kiewiet Koopman retained the province for his party with 61.92% of the vote.

The ward became vacant when the previous ANC councillor resigned. No by-elections were held in the Eastern Cape because Ward Two in the Sakhisizwe municipality (Elliot) was uncontested. The ANC retained the ward, which would be represented by Alfred Siyabulela Nxosi.

A by-election in Ward 21 of the Mhlontlo municipality (Qumbu) was withdrawn following an ongoing conflict between the municipality and ANC councillor Mkhuseli Mathe.

Mathe was removed from his position by the Mhlontlo council last year. Eastern Cape co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa gave instructions to the IEC to withdraw the by-election. News24