The DA and ANC retained their respective wards in by-elections held in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday.
The ward 18 and 21 by-elections were in Buffalo City while the Ngquza Hill by-election was for ward 9.
The DA won Ward 18 by a whopping 95% while the ANC retained ward 21 with 89% of the votes and won Ward 9 by 61%.
DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga said he was delighted with the results and said it was a testament to the trust the people of the province were rapidly placing in the DA.
“Our growth in these wards and the ANC’s significant drop in support – especially in BCM, where they only managed to poll 123 votes – shows that the people of the Eastern Cape are fed-up with the corrupt and self-serving ANC and realise that only the DA can change their lives for the better,” Bhanga said.Meanwhile, ANC provincial spokesman Gift Ngqondi said even though the ANC had won outright in two wards, Mdantsane in Buffalo City and Ward 9 at Ngquza Hill in the OR Tambo Region, it was disappointed with not clinching Ward 18.
“We knew the ward is a DA stronghold, but we are delighted with the progress, which we will build on towards the 2019 national elections.
“These results are once again a confirmation that the ANC remains the people’s movement.
“It is the ANC that is most suitable to lead and work together with the people towards a prosperous South Africa where poverty, unemployment and inequality will be meaningfully addressed,” Ngqondi said.
Jason McDowell is the DA’s new councillor in Ward 18, Edwin Fini is the ward 21 councillor and Kholiswa Vava is the councillor in Ward 9.