EFF takes Polokwane ward from ANC

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) took a ward in Polokwane‚ from the African National Congress (ANC) in Wednesday’s by-election.

Ward 10 in Polokwane in Limpopo was contested by the ANC‚ EFF and Forum 4 Service Delivery.

The ward became vacant after its ANC councillor resigned.

The ANC won the ward during the local government elections with 55.08% of the vote.

The EFF’s Jonas Mothapo took 54.21% of the vote in Wednesday’s by-election.

Fifteen by-elections took place across six provinces‚ three months after the local government elections were held.

The ANC retained power in 13 of the wards — all six contested in the Eastern Cape‚ three in KwaZulu-Natal‚ one in Limpopo‚ two in Mpumalanga and one in the Western Cape.

The DA retained Ward 2 in the Kgatelopele municipality in the Northern Cape. The DA won that ward in August with 40.95% of the vote‚ and increased that to 72.07% in Wednesday’s by-election.

The party said on Thursday that it had achieved a "significant surge in growth" in all the by-elections held.

The ANC said the results showed the continued confidence the electorate had in the party.

"To us‚ retaining control of the 13 wards means we need to continue accelerating our efforts in dealing with challenges facing our people — acting faster to create jobs‚ fight crime and deal decisively with corruption‚" spokesman Zizi Kodwa said.

The ANC’s electoral support dropped by eight percentage points in the August 3 local government elections. The party also lost control of four of the country’s eight metros to the DA.

The party on Thursday expressed concern about low voter turnout in Wednesday’s by-elections and others before them.

According to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) statistics‚ only 42 368 people voted on Wednesday — less than half of the 97 385 registered to do so.