An elated Andile Lungisa was in a celebratory mood.
For about five hours on Thursday morning , there was a lull at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium – sleepy politicians and cranky IEC presiding officers.
As the election results for Nelson Mandela Bay began to climb, placing the ANC in the lead ahead of the DA – even with about 40% of votes still to be captured – the centre began to buzz.
ANC party representatives beamed, and they laughed and joked with members of other political parties.
ANC Youth League secretary Luyolo Nqakula said their mood was “a winning mood”.
“We’re crossing our fingers that there is an increase from [the] 2014 margins in the metro,” Nqakula said.
“The people defended the revolution which was under threat from the DA and we will not disappoint.“We are very pleased about the results and it shows our people still love the movement.“We killed the DA which is our enemy in these elections and all the clusters will have different celebrations tomorrow [Friday],” Lungisa said.On the other side of the room, party agents lined up chairs for makeshift beds.“Akulalwa apha [loosely translated: There is no sleeping here],” the EFF’s regional secretary Hector Peter said as he rested on three chairs.One of his fellow party members was later seen catching a quick nap under a table.The EFF’s Zilindile Vena spent the majority of his time at the centre on his phone seemingly giving updates to some of his leaders.Members of the African Transformation Movement and the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party kept awake with energy drinks while watching the results live on a big screen.Bay COPE councillor and party youth secretary Siyasanga Sijadu said she had not slept a wink since 4am on Wednesday.They were all anxiously awaiting the Bay results – a hotly contested area which saw the ANC lose the Bay municipality for the first time in the 2016 election.But while the results in Wednesday’s poll would have no effect on the governance of the municipality, parties were anxious to know if their relentless campaigning in the city had made an impact.Earlier in the day, IEC presiding officers who clearly did not know what was expected of them this week were frustrated and tired.Some threatened to walk out.“I took off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for this.“I did not know I’d still be here,” one said.“Never again,” another said. “If I had known this is how things are done, I would have never done this.“We have children at home and can’t be sitting here until 5pm,” she said.As the day ebbed away, party agents began to leave the results centre, along with media members who had been camped out there all day.By 6pm, only a handful remained, mostly from the ANC and the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party.But IEC officials captured away as the mood began to quieten.The anxious wait is likely to continue well into Friday.Spirits are likely to be revived in the coming hours as the final result announcement in the Bay is expected to be known by Friday afternoon.“I will be back early tomorrow morning,” the Good party’s Vaughan Naidoo said as he packed up and left the venue.