By-elections: parties retain their seats
THE ANC has won eight by-elections, the DA three and the Inkatha Freedom Party IFP two, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said yesterday.
According to the IEC results released yesterday the only party that did not retain its seat in the by-elections was the National Freedom Party (NFP), which lost ward eight of the Uphongolo (Pongola) municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
IFP candidate Mbhekiseni Cyprian Nkumane beat the NFP's Mpisiyakhe Excellent Nkosi by 18 votes to win the Uphongolo ward with 628 votes.
The NFP, which was founded by former IFP chairman Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, had won the ward in the May 2011 local government elections.
By-elections were held on Wednesday in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Western Cape, the IEC said in a statement.
A total of 40702 voters were registered in the 11 wards and 56 voting districts.
Two of the candidates in the by-elections ran independently. The rest represented nine political parties.
The DA's Barend Hancke won ward nine of the Abaqulusi (Vryheid) Municipality with 72.75%.
ANC candidates won all three Eastern Cape by-elections in wards 11, 19 and 23 of Mhlontlo (Qumbu) Municipality.
Voter turnout in the various municipalities ranged from a high of 68.37% in Umtshezi to a low of 23.64% in Greater Tubatse.
In a statement DA leader Helen Zille said the results from the four by-elections the party contested were "a clear indication that our party continues to grow in all communities across South Africa".
The IFP's KZN legislature caucus leader Blessed Gwala said he was delighted with the outcome.
"The outright victories in uMtshezi and uPhongola once again prove that the ANC-NFP coalition is on the wane," he said.
"The IFP is proud to have withstood their total onslaught."

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MisterGP
Damn, these f**ks keep winning!Report Abuse
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