ANC canters to victory in two Mpumalanga wards, MK beats faltering EFF to second place
The ANC cruised to victory in the two Thembisile Hani by-elections in Mpumalanga in the latest round of by-elections. It was well up on its 2021 showing. The uMkhonto Wesizwe party beat the EFF to second place as the latter fell sharply in both wards.
Thembisile Hani, Nkangala, Mpumalanga
Both by-elections took place in the Thembisile Hani municipality, which borders Gauteng and Limpopo. It borders more of Gauteng and Limpopo than it does other municipalities in Mpumalanga, and sits in the northwestern corner of the province in the former KwaNdebele homeland. The municipality is linked to the nation's capital via the R573, the Moloto Road. Southern Ndebele is the most widely spoken language in the municipality. The seat of power is Ekukhanyeni, formerly Kwaggafontein.
Bafana Bafana player Mandla Masango hails from Ekukhanyeni. National First Division soccer team Casric Stars ply their trade in this municipality. Thembisile Hani forms part of the Nkangala District. Other key towns in the district are Emalahleni, Middelburg and Siyabuswa.
Ward 18 (Vezubuhle Thokozani) Thembisile Hani: ANC 73% (65% PR*) MK 15% EFF 9% (17% PR) Ingubo 1% (7% PR) Labour 1%
The setting: Vezubuhle and Thokozani lie above the R573 Moloto Road. The ward is between the KwaMhlanga Crossroads Shopping Centre and Ekukhanyeni.
The 2021 local government elections: The ANC won every voting district by a comfortable margin. The EFF finished second in every district. A local party, Ingubo Yeskethu (Ingubo), finished third, slightly ahead of the DA which obtained 5% on the proportional representation (PR) ballot.
The ANC won 61% on the ward ballot, followed by the EFF on 15%. An independent candidate came third with 7%. Ingubo was just in front of the DA, with both parties taking 5%.
The ANC won 40 out of the 62 seats in the council, winning 30 of the 32 wards. The only wards not won by the party were taken by two independents. The EFF was second with 12.
The 2024 provincial elections: The ANC won 58% of the vote in the voting districts in this ward. The EFF was second with 17% – it came second in all voting districts. The DA was third with 8%, beating the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party in all districts bar one. MK was fourth with 6% as it took votes from the ANC.
The by-election: The ward councillor died. The ANC won close to three-quarters of the vote, winning more than 80% in half of the districts and more than 90% in one district.
The ANC was only pushed in one of the six districts, in the most vote-rich part of the ward, Somsuswa Secondary School in Thokozani. Here its vote share declined from 69% to 57%. MK bagged 30% of the vote in this district. This is also where the EFF did best, obtaining 12%, slightly down from 14% in 2021.
MK finished second in half of the voting districts, while the EFF was second in the other half. The key difference was the Somususwa Secondary School where the MK beat the EFF by 120 votes. In the final tally, MK beat the EFF by 122 votes. Ingubo's support totally collapsed in the by-election.
Poll: 33% (37%)
Ward 31 (Ekukhanyeni South) Thembisile Hani: ANC 70% (59%) MK 16% EFF 11% (30%) AIPO 2% (4%) Labour 1% Ingubo 1%
The setting: Ekukhanyeni is the seat of power in Thembisile Hani. Ward 31 is at the southern tip of Ekukhanyeni, in the areas known as Kwaggafontein D and Kwaggafontein E.
The 2021 local government election: The ANC came close to beating the EFF by two votes to one. The EFF performed better in Ward 31 than Ward 18. It won more than 40% of the vote at the vote-rich Thuthukani Primary School in Kwaggafontein E. A regional party, the African Independent People's Organization (AIPO), came third with 4%.
The 2024 provincial elections: The ANC won 58% of the vote in the voting districts in this ward as well. The EFF came second with 24%. The EFF was second in all voting districts. The DA edged MK for third place, with both parties getting 4%. AIPO garnered only 1% support in the ward.
The by-election: The poll was held after the ward councillor died. The ANC cantered home, exhibiting impressive growth. It won more than 85% of the vote in two of the four voting districts. It beat MK by 1,186 votes.
MK beat the EFF for second place by 111 votes. As per Ward 18, both parties finished runners-up in two districts each. MK did best at Sinetjhudu Primary School in Kwaggafontein D with a 29% vote haul. This is the most-populous district in the ward. Here the difference between MK and the EFF was 139 votes.
AIPO lost half of its percentage support in the ward compared with the 2021 local government election. Joseph Mathunjwa's Labour Party continues to find it tough beyond the electoral mining belt map. After a poor showing in a recent Free State by-election, the party received only 1% support each in the two Thembisile Hani by-elections.
The next by-election will take place on 18 June when the ANC will defend another seat in Mpumalanga, in a township in Sabie in the Thaba Chweu municipality on the Panorama Route. After this strong showing by the ANC, the party will make the 250km-plus journey from Ekukhanyeni to Sabie with renewed vigor and confidence. DM
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