FILE. Picture: Khaya Ngwenya/African News Agency(ANA)
Johannesburg – The ANC continued to enjoy slender leads in two of Gauteng’s three highly contested metropolitan municipalities by 10am on Wednesday.
In the City of Johannesburg, the ANC was 31.76% ahead while the DA was not far behind at 28.98% and ActionSA had garnered 16.15%.
The EFF, which became the third biggest political party in the City of Johannesburg council after the 2016 local government elections, was sitting at 10.63%.
In Ekurhuleni, the ANC held a healthier lead of 37.51%, with the DA at 29.59%, the EFF at 13.7%, and ActionSA having a 6.52% share of the vote.
The DA had a lead of 34.86% in Tshwane followed by the ANC with 31.8% while the EFF had secured 10.65% of the vote.
In the province’s other local municipalities the ANC was also struggling.
In the troubled eMfuleni Local Municipality, the ANC had a lead of 39.27%, followed by the DA with 27.69% and the EFF’s share was 15.64%.
Freedom Front Plus (FF+) had managed to secure 7.01%.
The results also showed a similar feature in Mogale City, where the ANC was leading by 40.8%, with the DA second at 31.26% and the EFF sitting at 14.08%, while the FF+ had 7.88%.
In Rand West City, the ANC fared a lot better with its lead at 45.33%, while the DA was sitting at 23% and the EFF with 15.05%.
Merofong Local Municipality in Carletonville was the only municipality in which the ANC enjoyed a clear majority, having obtained 54.2% of the votes and the EFF in second place with 14.64% while the DA had obtained 12.98%.
In the Lesedi Local Municipality in Heidelberg, the ANC won 13 of the 26 seats and will need at least one more to be able to govern.
Independent Media reported on Tuesday that the Socialist Economic Freedom Movement appears to have emerged as a kingmaker in the Lesedi Local Municipality after it won a proportional representation seat.
The ANC has also failed to make inroads in the DA-run Midvaal Local Municipality.
In 2016, the DA won 17 of the 30 seats and this year it has increased this number to 19.
The number of ANC councillors in Midvaal is now down from nine to six.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
Political Bureau