A group of African National Congress (ANC) staff who have not been paid for over three months say they will be approaching the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to seek further legal advice.
This as there are still no answers on when the ANC will pay their monthly salaries.
They say they will keep picketing to show their dissatisfaction for being unpaid for the work they have performed.
The group’s representative, Mvusi Mdala says they also hope that their workers’ union will intervene.
Video: ANC Spokesperson Pule Mabe reacts to protest by ANC employees (September 2021)
De Klerk, who won praise worldwide for his role in scrapping apartheid and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993, has a complex legacy that left many grappling with conflicting emotions following his death.
The country’s Black population remains angered by his actions during apartheid and for his failure to curb political violence in the run up to South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Many argued against him being granted a state funeral – a privilege his foundation’s statement confirmed he is not set to enjoy.
“The FW de Klerk Foundation wishes to announce that FW de Klerk’s cremation and funeral will take place on Sunday, 21 November,” it said in statement.
“It will be a private ceremony for family members and will not be open to media,” it said, providing no further detail.
De Klerk died aged 85 after a battle with cancer. After his death, his foundation published a video in which he apologised for crimes against other ethnic groups during decades of white minority rule in South Africa.
He had previously refused to apologise and prompted backlash as recently as last year when he said he did not believe apartheid was a crime against humanity. On the other hand, he angered right wing Afrikaners who viewed him as a traitor to their causes of white supremacy and nationalism by ending apartheid.
Remarks on his death from world leaders and citizens alike reflected the difficult space in history he occupied; a key player in one of the most infamous oppressive regimes but also one who moved to bring it to an end.
For some, his death marked a new chapter for South Africa.
“I feel like his death helps South Africa move forward in a way, away from all the criticism, the negativity, the racism,” 30-year-old South African Pusiletso Makofane said in Johannesburg on Thursday.
“A man with such momentous responsibility, you know. He tried his very best. He did what he thought was the right thing to do. He didn’t fully understand his opposition. If someone is to be blamed for the shortcomings of the settlements, then the ANC must carry as much as blame for that as he does,” says Giliomee.
Anti-apartheid struggle veteran and former Robben Island prisoner Mac Maharaj says De Klerk was a prisoner of his own past.
Maharaj, however, says De Klerk wrote himself into South African history, with unbanning of the ANC and the release of political prisoners.
He says he has mixed feelings about de Klerk’s legacy because he did not admit that apartheid was a crime against humanity.
“He has left this video as part of his apology, but he did not acknowledge that apartheid was a crime against humanity. It was that understanding that was necessary for him to make, to really be committed to transformation. Let us be generous. He has sought to make an apology. Let us treat it as given. Let us be open-minded and have all the facts on the table when we make our assessment of the historic role that individuals have made. Because at the end of the day, none of those individuals, on their own, take credit. The real credit in our country goes to the masses of our people,” says Maharaj.
The DA, FF-Plus and Cederberg First Residents Association have struck a deal to govern the municipality previously run by the ANC.
The DA’s Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille shared the details of the deal.
“We got out of the blocks very early, we put together a coalition with the CE, the Cederberg Eerster as you know and with the FF+, we put together a stable coalition and we don’t want to bicker with anyone. We want to get on with service delivery. Cederberg Eerste gets the mayor, DA gets the speaker and the FF+ gets the deputy mayor, but the point is not about the post to say who gets what, the purpose is to get good local government going, stable local government going, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”
Big day today. Our first successfully concluded coalition council holds its inaugural meeting. I will leave it to them to announce who they are. I will merely say why this agreement is historic.
Malema was speaking at AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo’s welcoming ceremony, at Enkululekweni Palace in the Eastern Cape.
Malema made the remark after ActionSA released a statement announcing that it has rejected the EFF’s proposal for a coalition government in the Gauteng Metros.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said the main reason for the rejection is that they don’t want to be dependent on support from the ANC.
Mashaba shares more on rejecting the EFF’s proposal:
The EFF proposed that it should run Tshwane, the ANC Ekurhuleni while ActionSA governs Johannesburg.
Malema explains, ” We don’t co-govern, we all govern alone, we are an executive here and Mashaba is an executive there, everywhere where we are you are an executive. One of us is your opposition in the legislature, meaning the speaker and all of that belongs to opposition to monitor you and hold you accountable, such a proposal, Mashaba says no it’s not going to happen. Let’s hope that the leadership, in its wisdom, because the land is here, it can be able to persuade him to do the right thing.”
Malema gifted the AbaThembu King a Mercedes GLE earlier today.
During the ceremony, he spoke about the coalition issue:
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation says former president FW de Klerk chose to accept the reality that it would be futile to continue to defend the apartheid system and he played a part in paving the way for the democratic transition in South Africa.
De Klerk died from cancer at his home in Cape Town on Thursday at the age of 85.
The foundation says De Klerk’s death should serve as a moment for all South Africans to reflect on what must still be done to complete the task of building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous country that truly belongs to all who live it.
Former president Thabo Mbeki, the Foundation Board and its staff have sent their condolences to f the family of the former president and members and staff of the FW De Klerk Foundation.
STATEMENT OF THE THABO MBEKI FOUNDATION ON THE PASSING OF FORMER PRESIDENT FW DE KLERK. pic.twitter.com/VpvweqB15M
“Like all legacies, no legacy is one that is perfect. Every legacy has its own blemishes, so does every legacy of the greatest of the greatest and I think in this case we have a legacy that we should all be observing as one that was weak, that was difficult.”
“He had his moments, for example, him moving out of the government of national unity. That was part of that negative legacy because it then impacted on nation building, but I think we can’t deny, like Madiba did, the acknowledgement that he was a South African who tried his best,” says Hatang.
De Klerk apologises to South Africans for apartheid
Meanwhile, the De Klerk Foundation has released a video on social media in which De Klerk again apologises to South Africans for apartheid in an emotional last message.
In the clip, De Klerk apologises unreservedly for apartheid and acknowledges the hurt and wrongs caused by the system
He appears visibly frail in the pre-recorded video message.
The now-deceased elder statesman also thanked those who supported him during difficult times.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is working around the clock to find a solution to the energy crisis in the country.
Eskom has plunged the country into darkness with stage four load shedding which will continue until Friday. This has seriously affected businesses with the Black Business Council describing Eskom management as completely overwhelmed.
It has since called for the power utility’s CEO Andre de Ruyter and the board to step down. However, President Ramaphosa has pleaded for patience saying the situation is complicated.
Eskom implements Stage 4 load shedding until Friday morning
Eskom has announced that it has started implementing Stage 4 load shedding until 05:00 on Friday morning.
The power utility says this is due to the ongoing generation capacity shortages. Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha says the escalation of load shedding is necessary to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves, which were extensively used on Monday.
“It was anticipated that an additional seven units would have returned to service by Monday, and this has not materialised. Further, a generating unit at Arnot Power Station tripped this morning, contributing to the shortages. Eskom would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the implementation of load shedding and requests the public to reduce the usage of electricity in order to help us through the constraints. Eskom will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system,” says Mantshantsha.
Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 13:00 until 05:00 on Friday; thereafter Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented as previously communicated until 05:00 on Saturday pic.twitter.com/T2PRhEOaTm
Coalitions and kingmakers are the new buzzwords in local government politics after the recent Local Government Election where political parties failed to get an outright majority in many municipalities.
In Gauteng, there are 8 hung municipalities, which include the three metros – Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
The new entrant ActionSA has gone back to the electorate to determine how they should approach coalitions.
What they are unapologetic about is that they won’t get into a coalition with the ANC, says their national spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni.
“We will go into coalition discussions with parties who are committed to a zero-tolerance stance on corruption. Secondly, we will go into a coalition on the basis of transparency. As you know we’ve been running a public participation poll on our website since Thursday.”
“We will go into coalition discussions with a party that will agree with a service delivery agenda upfront,” she adds.
ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba on the election results:
“We must ensure that when we go into a coalition, it is sustainable, that it is stable, and therefore we will look very carefully who the other partners are in that specific coalition.”
“We must set an example for the 2024 election and prove to the electorate that you can [have a] stable and responsible coalition government,” says Groenewald.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) wants a service delivery for all South Africans including access to water, land, jobs, transparency and none-racialism.
Another potential kingmaker and newcomer, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), has established a panel to negotiate any coalitions.
Patriotic Alliance head of legal affairs, Eugene Botha says, “Our mandate is to secure … governance in municipalities [and] to ensure there is service delivery to our communities. Because they [voters] have not been served for so long.”
“So we don’t have any view on any party that we say we will never do business with them. We want them to understand though that we don’t become a branch of them,” adds Botha.
The GOOD party has decided that they will not enter any local government coalitions.
Expectations from ANC NEC meeting with political analyst Dirk Kotze:
The African National Congress (ANC), President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Monday address the organisation’s 2021 Local Government Elections Thank You Event.
The purpose of the event is to thank members of staff, volunteers, and communities in all forms for going out and exercising their democratic rights by participating in the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE).
Meanwhile, the ANC held a special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to deliberate on which party or parties it will enter into coalition governments with.
Treasurer-General, Paul Mashatile, met with the EFF until the early hours of on Sunday morning.
The IFP has refused to the work with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal only, but the door is open in other provinces.
IFP closes door for any coalition with the ANC:
The ANC’s ideological posture will be at the centre of coalition deliberations in the NEC.
Some within the party have expressed a desire to work with the Democratic Alliance (DA) to bring stability in local government councils, but there is also the EFF which is not so far removed from the ANC.
Acting Secretary-General, Jessie Duarte, says the party’s door is open to everyone who wants to speak to the ANC.
“The ANC’s is willing to speak to anyone who is willing to speak to us. We have also briefed the NEC on who we have spoken to already and what were the discussions. The negotiations team will get a guide from the NEC.”
Herman Mashaba’s Action SA has shut the door on the ANC, the IFP is open to talks but not in KZN and the Democratic Alliance’s federal executive has ruled out entering coalitions with the EFF and the ANC and any other party that it says is not committed to constitutionalism, the rule of law and nonracialism.
“The ANC will enter into coalitions with those who are willing to work with us. We have assessed the bad performance at the polls and NEC will provide further guidance but we won’t enter into unholy alliances. We have reached agreements with smaller parties but we won’t announce now until there is something concrete.”
ANC Coalition negotiation team member, Jeff Radebe, says the party will only enter into agreements where services will be at the centre of the arrangement.
“We will only enter coalitions where the people will be at the centre of the coalition. The people deserve services at that is what we plan in delivering.”
LGE 2021 I ANC NEC in talks over possible coalitions post Local Government Elections:
The African National Congress (ANC) says its negotiation team led by Head of Policy and former Minister Jeff Radebe is still busy with parties who are keen to work in coalitions with the party in the 66 hung councils across the country.
This emerged at the special ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting at Irene outside Pretoria.
The ANC has failed to secure enough votes to form governments in key municipalities including six metros after the local government elections.
It is now racing to identify which parties are interested after ActionSA and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) openly said they would not work with the ANC.
ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte explains in the video below:
Earlier on Sunday, the IFP announced that it has also established a team that will work on establishing the party’s role in the hung municipalities where it has the highest number of votes.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will unveil political parties that are keen to work with the African National Congress (ANC) in coalition governments in over 60 hung councils across the country.
This follows the governing party’s special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at Irene in Pretoria on Sunday. The meeting was called to take stock of the outcome of the local government election and discuss a possible coalition pact.
At least 66 hung councils are up for grabs after the 2021 local elections and different parties big and small are now engaged in political horse-trading.
Although denying being a big loser in these elections, the ANC has at least lost in majority in eThekwini – the privilege it enjoyed since 1994. Its electoral support has also dipped in all Gauteng metros.
On Sunday, the governing party’s highest decision body the NEC held a special meeting to ponder on which parties to work with to govern in hung councils.
Discussions with keen parties are led by the policy guru Jeff Radebe who said the interest of citizens will supersede the ANC’s self-interest.
LGE 2021 I ANC NEC in talks over possible coalitions post-local government elections
He said they won’t compromise on the provision of services to citizens in their quest to form coalitions with these parties.
Jessie Duarte said the door is open to everyone who is willing to work with them.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is willing to speak with the ANC while Herman Mashaba’s Action-SA has openly said it will not negotiate anything with the governing party.
ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile met with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Saturday, but the red berets are still to decide with their negotiations team. Led by their second-in-command Floyd Shivambhu, they still pondering on their possible coalition partners.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is also open to negotiate with the ANC elsewhere, but not in KwaZulu-Natal.
Duarte said there hasn’t been much progress and for now their possible coalition partners remain a closely guarded secret.
LGE 2021 | Unpacking the politics of coalition governments
The African National Congress (ANC) in Mangaung Metro in the Free State has thanked locals for giving them another term in office after the local government elections. Many locals raised concerns during the elections about service delivery problems. Despite the drop in seats from 58 to 51, the local ANC says the numbers are not a big concern to them. Provincial interim committee spokesperson, Oupa Khoabane, says they appreciate the gesture of confidence from the electorate.
“The drop in the number of seats is not a worrying factor, I think a motivating factor more than anything else is the confidence that the electorate has shown in the ANC that ensure that the ANC still controls this municipality of Mangaung. And we think that that motivation will inspire the ANC to improve service delivery mode and more than before. And we thank the voters for that gesture and we promise to really do more to ensure that we turn things around.”
DA to keep watchful eye on ANC in Mangaung
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Mangaung Metro says it intends to keep a close watch on council and monitor how the ANC will run the municipality.
Despite losing one seat in the council, the DA retained its position as the official opposition.
The ANC also lost support but managed to retain its absolute majority.
DA Caucus leader is David Masoeu says, “The other thing is we don’t think that ANC will change much in Mangaung Metro in terms of service delivery. The poor service delivery will continue because the same people that brought down this municipality will probably be elected again in other words the same personnel but different term.
So we are of the opinion that we need to hold them accountable as opposition party and make sure that they keep the promise that they made to the voters that they will improve things in Mangaung Metro.”
Political analysts say both the ANC and DA in the Western Cape should stop their political bickering and should start putting the interests of the people first, by forming a solid coalition government.
The latest results of the elections have shown the DA leading the pack at just more than 60% while the ANC stands at more than 20%.
Both parties are gearing up for coalition talks with other smaller parties in 15 hung municipalities in the province.
Political analyst and researcher Dr Harlan Cloete says the only way to form a stable local government in the Western Cape is for the two parties put aside their political differences and prioritise the interests of the people.
“The correct thing for the two parties is to put aside their differences being ideological or being personalities because that is the express will of the electorate. They didn’t give the outright majority. And the best thing would be one of the two to gang up with some of the smaller parties because that is not the will of the electorate. So, South Africans want political parties to work with the citizens to ensure that we end unemployment, corruption, inequality and poverty. So, the right thing would be for these parties if none receives the majority from the electorate is to get together and to form a coalition. That’s the most stable form of government that we can have.”
The IFP’s eThekwini Chairperson, Mdu Nkosi says they do not condone the latest violence that occurred in Durban’s CBD on Thursday night.
Nkosi says he has spoken to some of the residents and has pleaded for calm in the area.
Nkosi says he spoke with IEC officials before elections got underway to try and find out if some of the residents were in fact on the voters roll.
“I have been trying to explain the situation to these residents and called on them to go back to their hostels. I hope in future the IEC will be able to sort out issues like this one before it gets out of hand. Many residents were turned away at the voting station because they had registered somewhere else.”
Angry residents from Dalton Hostel in Umbilo went on the rampage. They are claiming that they were not given the opportunity to cast their votes on Monday.
SABC reporter, Ayanda Mhlongo says the residents disrupted services in the area.
They also damaged parts of the eThekwini College and torched a vehicle.
Meanwhile, more police vehicles have been deployed to the area to monitor the situation.
The DA has once more retained its position as leading political party in the Western Cape with 58.22% followed by the ANC with 18.63%, whilst the EFF got 4.13% support from voters, coalition talks are on the table as 16 councils remain hung in the province.
The announcement comes after days of anxiously waiting whilst counting continued as ward slips were being submitted from voting stations.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Commissioner, Glen Mashinini deemed the 2021 Local Government Elections Free and Fair.
“The role of the commission is to satisfy itself that the conditions for free and fair elections were met in all these elections. Amongst the factors which the commission must consider is first whether the electoral regulations, laws and agreed processes were followed”, said Mashinini.
A report from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) showed the overall national voter experience for 2021 Local Government Elections:
97% of voters found procedures easy
94% were satisfied with the process
96% satisfied with secrecy provided by the Independent Electoral Commission
96% of the voting environment was safe
95% found the experience of voting free and fair
93% were satisfied with COVID-19 voter safety protocols
Nationally, the ANC achieved a majority in 161 municipalities, followed by the DA with 16 municipalities and the Inkatha Freedom Party with 10 municipalities.
There’s been mounting questions concerning subtle coalition talks or what we call backdoor discussions which are already taking place even on social media platforms conversations are carrying on.
As bigger parties are still waiting, some parties are already piloting the joint partnerships in some municipalities.
Whilst reports about 12 hung councils were making the rounds, the Freedom Front Plus has secured votes from those councils, particularly in Oudtshoorn and Langeberg, sweeping 177 seats nationally, the party has taken away from DA’s traditional support base.
During a media briefing, Western Cape FF+ leader Corne Mulder said they were still waiting for the results as it will influence the discussions that can be established, “The coalition involves big metros, and the big metros will also play an important role in coalition talks or negotiation”, said Mulder.
The report suggests at least 1 in every 5 newly elected municipal councils will need a coalition.
The Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law and Governance has compiled a report that states, “In a single-party government that controls an outright majority in the council, it is relatively easy to adopt and implement the agenda of the majority government. Whilst it makes easier for political parties to fulfill the policy priorities as reflected in their party manifesto, policies of single-party government are also easily replaced or amended if the political leadership changes”.
In this year’s Local Government Elections, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) has turned out to be a kingmaker for most political parties, securing 50 seats nationally.
The PA leader, Gayton Mackenzie said political parties have approached them and their response was of having to compromise their policies as a party.
“Many political parties have approached us, and we told them we are in no position of talking coalition politics and we told them what we stand for”, said McKenzie.
The ANC’s provincial interim committee in the Western Cape held its special meeting yesterday, after noting the DA lost its majority in less than 15 municipalities, they had previously won in 2016.
Western Cape ANC Provincial Spokesperson Sifiso Ntweni said the party has worn 12 new wards directly from the DA strongholds, which are Cederberg, Breede Valley, Knysna, Delft, and Oudtshoorn.
The ANC also mentioned that coalitions were possible in several hung councils such as Saldanha Bay, Kannaland, Cederberg, and Prince Albert.
The report further reiterates that coalition politics provide a different context of governance.
The coalition agenda must be determined through negotiations involving several political parties.
To settle, coalition parties are forced to accommodate diverse positions to reach policy consensus.
The question for South Africa is who will be willing to compromise their policies to fit the overall agenda for the next election? “As research shows that there is a link between an increase in the number of parties in a government (i.e coalition) and a decrease in the number of policy changes in successive elections”. – Report by Ziyanda Yono.
The commission was briefing the media at the Results Operation Centre (ROC) in Pretoria on the progress made in the finalisation of results which now stands at 92%.
Although the commission did not elaborate on the nature of these objections, it says all of them are receiving necessary attention.
IEC commissioner Mosotho Moepya says they have leeway to resolve them after the final announcement of the results.
IEC briefing media on election results: 02 November 2021:
Results capturing will be completed by Wednesday night: IEC
Meanwhile, the commission says it is hopeful that all the capturing will be completed on Wednesday night as planned.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says they have completed almost 180 municipalities of the 257 countrywide.
Mamabolo says they are on track with the counting process and will declare the results on time as required by law.
The commission says it remains committed to finalising results with speed and efficiency while taking care to ensure that all necessary verifications are enforced.
The vote count and results announcement in the 2021 local government elections reached 93% by 1am on Thursday.
According to the IEC’s website, results so far include the following statistics:
21 576 of 23 148 Voting Districts completed
3930 of 4468 Wards completed
184 of 213 Municipalities completed
6981 of 8794 Seats allocated
The website also indicated that vote counts completed in provinces at 1am on Thursday include:
Free State: 100%
North West: 99%
Northern Cape: 98%
Limpopo: 95%
Eastern Cape: 95%
Mpumalanga: 94%
Gauteng: 93%
Western Cape: 89%
Kwazulu-Natal: 85%
The IEC expects to announce final results later on Thursday.
National support for the political parties so far indicates the ANC has secured 46.2% of the vote, the DA 21.05%, the EFF 10.4%, the IFP 5.49% and the FFPlus 2.42%.
Other and smaller parties have secured around 11.5% nationally, while independents secured almost 2% in wards around the country.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says it’s hopeful all the capturing of the results of the 2021 local elections will be completed as planned tonight. So far over 99% of the results are being scanned and audited.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says they have completed almost 180 municipalities of the 257 countrywide. He says they are on track with the counting process and will declare the results on time as required by law.
The commission says it remains committed to finalising results with speed and efficiency while taking care to ensure that all necessary verifications are enforced.
Meanwhile, the IEC says it has received over 80 objections by the end of business on Wednesday. It says all these come from different political parties and independent candidates.
Although the commission didn’t elaborate on the nature of these objections, it says all of them are receiving the necessary attention. Commissioner Mosotho Moepya says they have leeway to resolve them after the final announcement of the results.
IEC briefing media on election results: 02 November 2021:
Anticipation is mounting as political parties are on standby for coalition talks.
After the 2019 elections, coalitions were the order of the day as discontent with parties increased in many municipalities and metros. The low voter turnout in this year’s LGE points to more hung municipalities than in 2016.
Coalitions are inevitable as only a few political parties have won outright majorities in municipalities. As the election results continue to trickle in, it has become clear that there are hung municipalities.
So far there are 44 hung councils with 97% of the votes counted. But the question is…will coalitions benefit ordinary South Africans or just the political parties?
Political parties have already declared that they will work with each other.
Counting is expected to be completed by Wednesday midnight and the IEC will announce the official results on Thursday.
The Congress of the People (COPE) says it is optimistic that it will perform in the local government elections. This despite not making a showing yet on the national results leader board as the results are tallied from Monday’s local government elections.
With just under 60% of voting districts counted, party electoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg, Colleen Makhubele, says it is too early to write off the party.
“They haven’t really counted where we have been strong as COPE. We have been putting all our efforts for campaigning [in provinces] like Gauteng, Northern Cape, Free State and Limpopo. So those numbers are also coming. But also when we look at the statistics to say in 2019, by this time with about 40% to 45% counted, we were looking at 7 000 votes.”
“Right now it was 28 000 when I left the desk. I am sure we are more than that and it is just a ripple effect of the work. We have been doing [well] in our strong provinces where we have been campaigning,” says Makhubele.
COPE remains optimistic
EFF in Free State confident it will perform well
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Free State says it was hoping that it would collect more votes than it did, but many of their supporters, and would-be voters, were not able to vote on election day.
The current count shows that the party could be the main opposition in Mafube, Nala and Mohokare municipalities.
EFF provincial secretary, Bosanku Msimanga, says many young people were turned away from voting stations.
“We would have performed much better if those young people who were turned [back] in their large numbers on Monday. [They] were not given a chance to vote. But we are extremely excited, extremely confident about what is happening. What we are seeing as EFF it is only now that the numbers that are trickling is where EFF has performed well,” adds Msimanga.
Talking possible coalition with EFF’s Omphile Maotwe
She says they want to reduce the ruling party’s representation to below 50% in some municipalities.
“We are looking for growth. We want to dismantle the majority that is going on in the province. Mpumalanga is called the ANC stronghold. It is one of the provinces where they got more than 80%. For this election we want to bring them below 60% in terms of the province,” adds Sithole.
Crunching the numbers: Mpumalanga has a 39.6% voter turnout
Almost 60% of votes cast in the 2021 Local Government Elections on Monday had been counted by 1am on Wednesday morning, but the IEC had earlier expressed confidence that 90% of the count would be completed overnight.
With 58% of the vote reported, the ANC leads the race for party votes with 46.4%, followed by the DA on 22.5% and the EFF on 10%. The ANC has secured wins in 72 local councils countrywide and the DA in 21 councils.
In the race for seats in 6 of the 8 metros across the country, the ANC and the DA are locked in a tight battle for votes.
The CSIR predicts neither party or any other party will have enough votes to control the metros in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini.
In Buffalo City and Mangaung the ANC may have done enough to secure a majority win, while the DA is predicted to win the City of Cape Town again.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo says, “The Northern Cape has completed 89% of its results, followed by Western Cape at 72% and in third position comes Eastern Cape at 70%. The rest of the provinces completion rate range [from] between 37% and 67%. At the level of capturing 78% of results are already in the system waiting [for] scanning and auditing. We are still pursuing the target of reaching the 90% still in the course of tonight.”
Eskom announced that it would be implementing load shedding until 05:00am on Wednesday morning.
“We have been in discussions with Eskom officials and in those discussions, what we sought to achieve was an insulation of certain sites where our operations continue,” explains Mamabolo.
