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MK Party president Jacob Zuma and Vishnugopal "Gadaffi" Govender. (MK Party/Facebook)
- The Electoral Commission of SA held the latest round of by-elections on Wednesday.
- Among some of the biggest results were the ANC's loss of yet another ward in KwaZulu-Natal, and the DA's loss of a ward to the Patriotic Alliance in Johannesburg.
- The DA maintained support in one ward in Johannesburg, and the IFP lost a ward to the ANC in the former's traditional base in uPhongolo.
The MK Party (MKP) has once again nibbled at the ANC's support in KwaZulu-Natal and now has three councillors in the province.
The popularity of Vishnugopal "Gadaffi" Govender, a politician who defected from the ANC to the MKP, helped the party win Ward 28 in the KwaDukuza municipality.
It garnered 62.25% of the total votes cast in the ward, which had a voter turnout of 59.50%.
Former president Jacob Zuma, who leads the MKP, used his clout to campaign in the ward. Other leaders, such as MKP deputy president John Hlophe, were also visible there in the days leading up to the by-election.
The ANC in that region had several disagreements with the local KwaDukuza Business Forum, which is chaired by Thami Chiliza.
The forum's leaders - who regularly host free soup kitchens and developmental activities in the poor community - confirmed to News24 that they had thrown their weight behind the MKP.
READ | Inside the rise and rise of Jacob Zuma's MK Party
Speaking to News24, KwaDukuza Business Forum member Philani Pityo said members of the forum were also MKP members, but he stressed the forum itself wasn't politically affiliated.
He added that other members supported the ANC, MKP, IFP and EFF.
Pityo added:
We are individual members of the MK Party and that's not a secret. We supported the MK Party in this ward and we will continue to do so in other wards and by-elections. But the organisation isn't aligned politically.
Meanwhile, ANC's Welcome Ntokozo Radebe took the uPhongolo municipality's Ward 12 from the IFP, attracting 40.01% of the total votes cast. The voter turnout there was 52.79%.
READ | Bittersweet victory for Zuma's first councillor, an ANC mutineer
Elsewhere, ANC's Mfundo Genu retained the party's seat with a resounding 83% win in the by-election in iNtsika Yethu Municipality in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape.
Gayton McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance won a seat in the Johannesburg metro's Ward 82, with Beverley Marilyne Smouse snatching 41.71% of the total votes cast.
The party snatched the ward from the DA, which only managed to get 599 votes, coming in third after the ACDP's 977 votes.
The ANC only won 591 votes in that ward.
The DA made up for its loss by retaining Ward 99 in Randburg, taking 98% of the support. The ANC convinced only 2% of the voter base, according to IEC statistics.
Khumbudzo Madzhini retained the ANC's Limpopo municipality seat in Ward with 65.68% of the total votes. The voter turnout was 36.68%.
