The ANC should be worried after by-election results: analyst
The people have spoken and they don't want the African National Congress.
That's the warning from KwaZulu-Natal independent political analyst Protas Madlala who has described the ANC’s humiliating defeat by the IFP in Nquthu as a "serious indictment that should get the party worried".
The ruling party also suffered a defeat in Beaufort West in the Western Cape to the Democratic Alliance which attained almost 57% of the vote in a by-election there on Wednesday. The district was once an ANC stronghold.
It is official - the Inkatha Freedom Party has captured Nquthu The ANC and the NFP are the biggest losers in the Nquthu by-elections‚ losing three seats and one seat respectively in comparison to what they attained in last year's local government elections before the troubled council was dissolved.
The Independent Electoral Commission confirmed on Thursday morning that the Inkatha Freedom Party was victorious in by-elections in Nquthu on Wednesday. They increased their seats from 15 to 19 in the northern KwaZulu-Natal 33-seat municipality they lost at the hands of the ANC/NFP coalition six years ago.
The DA and the EFF each retained their seats but will not longer benefit in the coalition government as the IFP will rule the area with an outright majority‚ electing their own preferred office bearers.
The IFP's lion's share of the council seat means they will no longer require a coalition to govern both Nquthu and the uMzinyathi district which has been in limbo for nearly 10 months after Nquthu failed seven times to constitute.
“For me it’s a serious indictment. I think it should get the ANC worried but you know them‚ they never got worried about the [local government election] results in August last year‚” said Madlala.
IFP supporters celebrate ahead of Nquthu by-election announcement Boisterous Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters on Thursday morning carried a coffin draped in ANC and National Freedom Party (NFP) t-shirts as they stormed the Nquthu municipal offices, singing "owethu lomaspala, owani lombango [this is our municipality, what's this fuss all about].
“They went into a denial mode and even now they will be in a denial mode yet they were so sure that there was going to be a landslide victory for them.”
Madlala has warned that the ANC’s loss in Nquthu as well as their loss to the DA in the Beaufort West Municipality signalled a continuing trend.
DA Western Cape acting leader Bonginkosi Madikizela told media that "voters recognise that only the DA continues to deliver better services‚ cut corruption and create jobs".
“God forbid I don’t know how much money they spent campaigning in Nquthu with all their political heavyweights travelling from Cape Town and Pretoria to do door-to- door campaigning there‚” Madlala said.
Nquthu is not just another pastoral hinterland in KZN It may be easy to dismiss the area of Nquthu as just another pastoral hinterland in KwaZulu-Natal.
Asked what he thought the ANC could have done better to defeat the IFP in its former stronghold‚ Madlala said: “They threw their lot and everything they had. They threw all their heavyweights and what else could have they done. I would be worried if I was the ruling party. But the people have spoken and they have said ‘ANC we don’t like you’.
“With all the resources that they have‚ for me this is a serious indictment but I am hesitant to use the current results and say they reflect 2019. But for the ruling party if they still have feelings‚ they should be worried‚” said Madlala.
He also congratulated the IFP “for the job well done” and the Independent Electoral Commission for managing “an almost incident free election in a highly-contested area”.
- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE