Johannesburg – The Electoral Commission (IEC) in Gauteng is hopeful that it will release the complete results by Wednesday afternoon.
Gauteng electoral officer Thabo Masemola said the province has already released 66% of the preliminary results, including those of the three metros of Joburg, Ekurhuleni and the City of Tshwane.
“We are doing fairly well in the big metros. We are hopeful to release all the results by this afternoon. Ekurhuleni is likely to be the first metro to release its official results,” Masemola said.
He confirmed that the results of Lesedi Local Municipality in Heidelberg and Rand West Local Municipality, comprising Westonaria and Randfontein, had been completed. Both municipalities were ANC controlled after the 2016 local government elections. The ANC in Lesedi obtained just 50.4%, which would allow it to form a coalition government with at least one of the parties which secured a seat in the council.
The ANC in the Rand West Local Municipality failed to secure the required majority to control the council. The ANC polled 45.33% of the overall votes which would also be forced to form a coalition government with other parties.
In Merafong Local Municipality in Carletonville, the ANC is hovering just above 50% while struggling in Emfuleni Local Municipality in Vereeniging and Mogale City Local Municipality in Krugersdorp.
Commenting on the ANC’s failure to obtain 50% in the majority of the municipalities, DA party liaison committee member in Gauteng Khume Ramulifho said the outcome of the preliminary results “were a clear sign that people were rejecting the ANC” and his party was seen as an alternative. He said the preliminary results were an indication that things were not looking positive for the ANC in the upcoming 2024 national elections.
Ramulifho was speaking at the IEC’s Results Operational Centre (ROC) in Gauteng. According to him, the results at Midvaal Local Municipality where his party obtained more than 63% of the vote was a sign that people voted for them due to their good governance of the province.
“We obtained 63% of the vote at Midvaal Local Municipality and have also won two Wards from the ANC,” Ramulifho said.
He, however, expressed concern about the poor turnout of voters, saying it was important for the IEC and political parties to allow voters to access technological equipment such as online voting to cast their votes in future elections.
The ANC was not available to comment on their performance. The party leaders are expected at the Gauteng results centre later this afternoon.
baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za
Political Bureau