By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
The MK party walked away with 28% of the votes in a predominantly ANC ward in Govan Mbeki local municipality in Mpumalanga on Wednesday.
The by-election was triggered by the slaying of ANC councillor Simphiwe Sindelo who survived several attempts on his life before his murder.
The ANC retained its ward by 51% while the EFF got 18% down by 8%, the IFP 3% and the DA which previously won 7% of the vote in Ward 4 did not contest the by-election.
This was the MK’s first by-election outside of KZN where the party contested three by-elections and lost all three.
The ward in eMbalenhle is made up of predominantly Zulu-speaking people, which shows the growing strength of the MK in Zulu-speaking regions outside of KZN.
The party has had popular rallies in certain townships in Gauteng which are dominated by residents who come from KZN.
The by-election result is also a mirror image of the MK’s performance in a by-election in Pongola in northern KZN where the MK appeared to be winning support from ANC and EFF supporters.
MK party supporters claim a bulk of former ANC members who jumped ship to join Julius Malema’s EFF now see the MK party as their new home.
This poses a major threat to the growth of the EFF which has been campaigning to become one of the biggest parties in KZN.
The party now appears to be the fourth biggest after the IFP, ANC and the DA.
The DA whose KZN campaign is led by its Zulu-speaking, traditional dancing and top performing Umngeni mayor Chris Pappas, had a real shot at growing into black communities before the emergence of Zuma’s MK.
Pappas previously said the MK was a contender but was unlikely to get a majority in the province.
“But they certainly will get several votes from the ANC in this election. We’ve seen a lot of votes coming away from them. I do think that the ANC is in a tailspin,” he said.
“But then again MK is a new party and we’ve seen these new parties come along like Cope at the time and people get excited about them. But when you start thinking about who are the leaders who represent them, what are their structures, then they start to unwind a little.”
Meanwhile, the ANC and the MK supporters are due to meet in another showdown on 5 March when the ANC challenges the use of the name uMkhonto weSizwe, the party colours and its logo. The ANC argues these belong to its now defunct armed wing.
Pictured above: Umkhonto Wesizwe.
Image source: X
