THE African National Congress (ANC) emerged victorious, but failed to gain an outright majority in yesterday’s Mtubatuba by-elections in which six political parties vied for public support across 19 wards.
Deemed ‘free and fair’ by the Independent Electoral Commission’s Municipal Electoral Officer for Mtubatuba, Mdu Sithole, the elections ran smoothly for the most part, but only 59% of the voter population of 84 713 went to the polls.
The 38 municipal seats are broken down into 12 ward seats and 6 proportional representative (PR) seats for the ANC, 7 ward seats and 8 PR seats for the Inkhatha Freedom Party (IFP), 1 PR seat for the African Independent Congress (AIC), 1 PR seat for the Democratic Alliance (DA), 1 PR seat for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and 1 ward seat and 1 PR seat for the National Freedom Party (NFP).
According to IEC Provincial Electoral Officer (PEO) Mawethu Mosery, the question of a coalition is a political one, rather than an electoral one, and yet to be decided by the parties in question.
‘The allocation of seats is an obvious indication that no party obtained the 50%-plus majority’.
Should any of the six parties that contested yesterday’s elections wish to lodge an objection, they must do so by tomorrow (Friday) at the IEC’s national office in Pretoria.
