ANC wants KZN by-election results nullified after losing ward to IFP

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, which on Thursday lost a crucial ward to the IFP in the hotly-contested uMhlathuze Municipality, will approach the courts in a bid to have the results of Wednesday’s by-elections nullified.

The by-election in Ward 12 in the eMadlankala area, outside Richards Bay, saw the IFP securing 54% of the vote while the ANC received 43%.

However, the ANC claims that the IFP used cash and food parcels to buy votes.

“The IFP did all these illegal things in broad daylight. We have videos and photographs showing the IFP handing out food parcels and cash to community members ahead of voting.

“We have already lodged a formal complaint with the IEC, and our next step would be to approach the Electoral Court,” ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said.

On the eve of voting, a truck from humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers was seen distributing food parcels in the area.

However, both the IFP and Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the distribution of the food parcels in the area was not linked to the by-election.

Ward 12 in uMhlathuze, which until Wednesday’s by-election was under the control of the ANC, became vacant following the resignation of an ANC ward councillor.

Winning the ward would have placed the ANC in a pole position to dislodge the IFP from power at the uMhlathuze Municipality.

IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli, who described the ANC’s complaint as an “act of desperation”, said the ANC’s loss was a continuation of a trend that started in the November municipal elections when voters “deserted the ANC”.

“However, instead of embarking on an introspection to establish why it’s continuing to lose support, the ANC comes up with all sorts of excuses.

“In a desperate bid to avoid confronting the real issues causing the voters to desert it, the ANC is even prepared to rubbish initiatives such as that of the Gift of the Givers, meant to assist our people to cope with poverty.”

If you say the hungry should not get food, how then do you on the other hand claim to be a pro-poor political party?

The ANC, which in recent days deployed several senior members of the party to the eMadlankala area as part of the campaign to woo voters ahead of Wednesday’s by-elections, is facing defeat in the 2024 provincial elections should it fail to convince disillusioned voters to back it.

Ntuli said the fact that the ANC lost its own ward to the IFP was proof that the ruling party’s slide was unstoppable.

The IFP’s victory in this Ward is a sign of things to come in 2024. It is proof that the people of KZN are desperate for change and are rejecting the unethical and self-serving leadership that has come to characterise the ruling party, and which has plunged this province into mismanagement and corruption.

Voters continue to reject the arrogant ANC, which no longer cares for the people of this province.