ANC dominates Thabazimbi by-election, defying critics

To read the statement from Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party about the Thabazimbi by-election results this week, you’d think that the year-old organisation had swept the boards.

Thanking the people of the Limpopo town for their “unwavering support and trust”, MK hailed the results as a “triumph” and “an achievement”.

The party gained one seat – and even then the holder was a former independent candidate who joined them.

The by-election echoes the general election of earlier this year, when both MK and its fellow populist organisation, the EFF, got roundly thumped by the ANC in the province.

While the poll turnout in Thabazimbi was not high, the result emphasised the dominance of the ANC in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s home province, which was, by far, the best-performing one for the ANC in the general election, pulling in just over 70% of the votes.

While that could be put down to ANC organisational efficiency in the province, the party has plenty of support in Limpopo.

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Even though Ramaphosa himself went to Thabazimbi to rally the troops, it is probable the ANC would have won the wards it did without him.

In Limpopo at least, the populist message of MK fell on deaf ears, despite some intense campaigning and lobbying by Zuma’s people.

That may indicate that many people outside the KwaZulu-Natal power base of MK believe it is an ethnic-based party.

Yet, the EFF likewise found little sympathy, perhaps indicating ordinary voters are associating that party with promoting the interests of foreigners.

Some in the ANC were hailing the Thabazimbi result and other by-election victories last week as a resurgence of the party.

That may be going a bit far, but it does seem as though the ANC is far from dead and buried as a political organisation.

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