Zukile Majova and Joseph Chirume
The ANC’s campaign to ensure thousands of voters in East London and the surrounding townships made it to the voting station has paid off, with the party winning a majority vote in the Buffalo City Metro.
With 37% of the votes counted nationally, the ANC has secured 67.1% of the votes compared to the DA’s 12.5% and 13% for the EFF.
The ruling party, however, is unlikely to get an outright majority in Gqeberha, where the ANC is so far leading the pack with 42.9%, to the DA’s 38% and the EFF’s 7.1%. Just 15% of the vote in the metro has been counted.
It would appear that voters are punishing both the ANC and the DA in the Friendly City of Port Elizabeth.
Future progress and recovery is likely to be delayed by the failure of any party getting an outright majority.
This crisis has suffocated effective service delivery and governance in this municipality for the past five years.
Party leaders of both the ANC and the DA who spoke to Scrolla.Africa in Gqeberha remained confident that an outright majority was still possible.
ANC Provincial Treasurer Babalo Madikizela said his party will wrestle back control of the metro.
“We are not happy with the voter turnout. There were some glitches with the IEC. However, we had to work with what we had.
“I cannot talk of failing to get majority results now or speculate on coalition because from the numbers counted now, we will win an outright majority.”
Ratief Odendaal of the DA said: “There were some glitches on the first day and our members stood in the queues for a long time. We thank them for their patience.
“We will have an outright majority. Wherever the DA governs, we believe we govern better than any other political party.
“We will improve services to the people. Security is a concern for our city but we will create an additional Metro Police Precinct to make it a safe place.”
Nationally, voters desperate to save the country from corruption and poor service delivery may have plunged four important municipalities into the complex world of coalition governments.
All indications are that Jo’burg Metro, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni Metro and Tshwane Metro are likely to be hung municipalities.
Image source: @TheCitizen
