Red flag for ANC as it retains wards but by thinner margins in Gauteng

According to elections analyst Dawie Scholtz, the ANC needs to match its 2016 level in townships to feel 50% 'safe in Gauteng' but has failed to do so.
According to elections analyst Dawie Scholtz, the ANC needs to match its 2016 level in townships to feel 50% 'safe in Gauteng' but has failed to do so.
Image: RODGER BOSCH / AFP

The ANC won most wards in by-elections across Gauteng on Wednesday.

In Doornkop (Soweto) the ANC received 72%, the EFF 11%, the DA 5% and the the ATM 5% of the votes cast.  

The EFF and the DA failed to make inroads.

The ANC also held Ward 122 (Vlakfontein, Lehae) in Johannesburg by 73%, followed by the EFF 11%, DA 8%, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 3%, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) 2% and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) 2%.

According to elections analyst Dawie Scholtz, the ANC needs to match its 2016 level in townships to feel "50% safe in Gauteng".

"Preferably they should be over-performing," Scholtz said. "Underperforming the township voting pattern by as little as 2%-5% in the townships will be fatal in Gauteng. There's no margin for error." According to Scholtz, the ANC was down five percentage points in Doornkop and Vlakfontein on its 2016 results.

The ANC had good results in Chris Hani in Mpumalanga with 87%, Abaqulusi in KwaZulu-Natal with 49%, and in Sol Plaatjie in the Northern Cape with 42% of the vote.

In other provinces, the DA in the Western Cape took majority-coloured wards from the ANC in Hessequa.

The DA also held Ward 9 in Stellenbosch convincingly with 99%, followed by the ANC's 1%.


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