IN a three-way contest in the only by-election held in Zululand on Wednesday, the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) Nomasonto Agrineth Sithole took the Ulundi Ward 19 seat with almost half the votes cast going her way.
The seat, previously held by the National Freedom Party (NFP) is the home of NFP President Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi.
The African National Congress received 81 votes and the NFP 539.
The vote count for the IFP was 618 or 49.92% compared to the NFP’s 43.018% in the 2011 Local Government Elections.
IFP National Chairperson, Blessed Gwala said, ‘The election result shows that the IFP, with its limited resources, can defeat the ANC and the NFP combined because it has the confidence of the people.
‘It certainly is a sweet victory considering all the resources and time that both the NFP and the ANC invested.
He said they won despite the ANC sending Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor and her deputy, KaMagwaza-Msibi to lead an imbizo in Ulundi to raise awareness about science and technology just before the by-election.
‘We realised that this was a plot to canvas for the by-election, but the people of Ulundi are intelligent and were not going to allow themselves to be fooled,’ said Gwala.
‘We don’t take for granted the confidence our people continue to demonstrate in the IFP and commit to redouble our efforts in working for them even after the 2016 municipal elections.
‘We are grateful to all the people who came out once again to cast their vote, thus entrenching democracy in our country,’ said Gwala.
