Smaller parties get fewer votes
Before the general election many reports were spread that the newly formed political parties were going to unseat the ANC in Giyani.
Former ANC councillor, Eric Nkovani, known as Penny Penny, even resigned from the ANC to join Jacob Zuma’s MK (uMkhonto weSizwe). In villages such as Muyexe where Zuma brought massive development during his time in office, it was certain that the whole village was pro-MK. However, the election results presented a different picture. Out of 7577 total votes cast, MK only received 3% or 227 votes, 88 of which were spoilt votes.
Another political party that was expected to make inroads in the election was the Action Alliance Development Party (AADP) led by well-known artist Benny Mayengani. Being Tsonga, Mayengani should have had massive support in areas where the Xitsonga is spoken. During the Noza football tournament at Ngove village before the elections, he caused chaos that resulted in the MEC for CoGHSTA, Basikopo Makamu, abandoning the stage where he was supposed to address people.
Also read: Elections: Turnout low because of mistrust in Giyani villages
Mayengani arrived with his entourage prancing around on the pitch while singing one of his hits, A hi n’wi lavi, which translates to ‘We don’t want him’. With the crowd joining in, it created an impression that the ANC was not wanted in the area. Anyone at that event was pretty sure Mayengani would beat the ANC. However, the election results came out indicating that he only got 1.62% (121 votes) from the Giyani community.
Mayengani, also called President Mayengani, frequently gets into arguments with other Xitsonga musicians over their music and may have been devastated by the loss. But the party’s spokesman, Pat Mabandla, said they would contest the 2026 local government elections, saying they it’s the party’s only opportunity to turn things around.
Also read: Musician to contest elections
“Generally, we did very well and thanks to Benny Mayengani the president, we are now changing tactics for the 2026 local government elections,” he said. Mabandla believes that the party did well with 12 402 votes or 0,05% nationally despite its poor performance locally. Still, for political groups with their roots in Giyani, this was not the biggest setback.
The Sara political party, headed by Colleen Makhubela from Dzumeri village but currently living in Johannesburg, suffered the biggest defeat in Giyani. The party received only 11 votes, or 0.15% of the total votes cast in the Giyani, despite having an advantage over most other political parties due to her Xitsonga speaking background.
