Election battleground: What to watch out for in Mpumalanga

As the national and provincial elections on 29 May draws nearer, political parties are fighting to either infiltrate new provincial territories or hold onto power they have.

With the emergence of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK party), political analysts believe KwaZulu-Natal is the political battleground.

However, the party seems to be making inroads in Mpumalanga too.

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In the 2019 provincial legislature, the African National Congress (ANC) was the party of choice in all provinces except the Western Cape.

However, since then, there have been chaotic scenes in the province. This as the party has suspended some of its members due to its step-aside rule.

The Office of the Premier in Mpumalanga has not been spared the chaos either.

This follows a social media post suggesting suspended ANC provincial treasurer Mandla Msibi had been appointed as the acting premier.

Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane dismissed the claims as “unsubstantiated” and “baseless”.

“She further states that the process of appointing an Acting Premier is prescribed by the constitution of of South Africa.

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“She will always communicate developments of this nature with the people of the Mpumalanga Province, as has been the case since the commencement of the 6th Administration,” said her office in a statement last month.

Whether the chaos in the province will affect its support remains to be seen.

ANC to keep Mpumalanga?

Mpumalanga remains an ANC stronghold, with the party having garnered 858,589 votes in the provincial legislature. This represented a 70.58% support base.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was the second-biggest party with 155,573 votes, representing a 12.79% support base.

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) was a party of choice for 118, 915 South Africans, representing 9.77% support base.

The party also garnered the most support in the province in the local government election in 2021.

However, recent by-elections in Mpumalanga indicate that the MK party may take some votes from the three parties.

A by-election was held in Ward 04, Govan Mbeki Municipality, on 28 February. The position in the ward, with 3,656 registered voters, became vacant as a result of a councillor’s death.

It was contested by six candidates from six political parties – the ANC, EFF, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Singukukhanya Kwezwe Christian Party (SKCP), the Truth and Solidarity Movement (Truth) and new comer MK party.

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The ANC retained the seat it won in the 2021 municipal elections, with 50.84% of the total votes cast.

This is compared to 44.04% during the 2021 municipal elections.

The MK party came second, ahead of the DA, EFF and IFP.