Zululand elections scorecards

IT was a celebratory weekend for the African National Congress (ANC) who reaffirmed its dominance throughout Zululand after garnering the majority share of the vote in the 2014 national and provincial election.

Final results streaming in to the IEC offices throughout the northern KZN region showed that the ruling party secured the largest piece of the vote pie for the national and provincial ballots in 14 of Zululand’s 16 municipalities.

Eroding support in previous Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) strongholds, the ANC was able to turn matters around in three municipalities where the IFP held power in the 2009 national elections – Ntambanana, Hlabisa and The Big 5 False Bay municipalities.

Also making inroads in IFP territory was the National Freedom Party (NFP), who secured the largest percentage of the national and provincial ballots in Nongoma.

New kids on the block, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) attracted between 1% and 2% of the vote in eight municipalities.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on the other hand increased its footprint in uMhlathuze with 11.07% of the national ballot compared to 9.01% in 2009. DA support also grew in KwaDukuza (20.52%) compared to 15.80% in 2009.

Elated over his party’s success, ANC Chairperson for the Musa Dladla region, Cllr Thulani Mashaba said the outcome was a result of intense campaigning daily since May last year.

‘Whoever thought the ANC was going down, we have defeated the rumours. Some have said we only wrested power in municipalities because of our coalition with the NFP. But these results show a clear majority and we are growing day by day. However, we must continue to work and deliver services to people and make uThungulu shine. If we relax, go home and sleep, the people will punish us,’ said Mashaba.

Opposition

The DA was also in high spirits after ousting the IFP and cementing their place as the official opposition in KZN.

‘We are very happy with the results in our constituency showing a considerable growth from 2009,’ said DA Chairperson of the uMhlathuze constituency, Cllr Louis Fourie.

‘We are looking at expanding our support in uMlalazi and uMfolozi. We can see that we have a high number of votes in areas where our membership is strong. We are now the official opposition in uMhlathuze and our result in KZN is amazing,’ Fourie said.

With the IFP losing massive ground in this election, Chairperson of the uMhlathuze constituency, Cllr Thandazani Thusi said ‘they did the best they could with the limited resources available to them’.

‘The ANC used government resources to campaign. The IFP does not receive external funding and that was our main problem. We only relied on membership fees. Come 2016, we will retain and claim back what is ours. We could not compete with government resources when it came to campaigning. Where did the ANC get their money from? It was unfair,’ Thusi said.

NFP spokesperson, Professor Nhlanhla Khubisa, said his party was given a confidence boost after ‘performing extremely well’, not only in Zululand but countrywide.

‘Our main thrust has been service delivery and we are making a footprint in all provinces. Our focus now is to prepare for the local government elections.’

EFF convenor for the uThungulu region, Sibusiso Mthiyane, said they were ecstatic with the ‘marvellous start’ for the party.

‘We thank our voters who supported us. It shows that they want our country to go forward because at the moment it is not moving forward. Come 2016 and 2019, we will do better. ‘Whether you like it or not, we are going to take this country,’ said Mthiyane.

With a more than 70% of voter turnout in uThungulu, IEC Regional Supervisor Thule Dlamini said they were happy with the overall election process in the region.

‘We received no objections and finished capturing of all voting districts by 1.30am on Friday. The results were audited during capturing. The turnout at the polls was good,’ said Dlamini.

While voters were allowed to vote at any voting station this time around, the results are an early indicator of different party support in the region in the run-up to the local government elections in 2016.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (400 seats) – 13 parties

African Peoples’ Convention (1 seat)

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania – (1 seat)

Agang South Africa– (2 seats)

African Christian Democratic Party – (3 seats)

African Independent Congress – (3 seats)

Congress of the People – (3 seats)

United Democratic Front – (4 seats)

Vryheid Front – (4 seats)

National Freedom Party – (6 seats)

Inkatha Freedom Party – (10 seats)

Economic Freedom Fighters – (25 seats)

Democratic Alliance – (89 seats)

African National Congress – (249 seats)

KZN Legislature (80 seats) – 6 parties

Minority Front – (1 seat)

Economic Freedom Fighters – (2 seats)

National Freedom Party – (6 seats)

Inkatha Freedom Party – (9 seats)

Democratic Alliance – (10 seats)

African National Congress – (52 seats)