Despite the overall loss of ground by the ruling party nationally, on the North Coast support for the African National Congress remained strong.
The ANC in KwaDukuza municipality secured 60.59% of the vote, slightly down from the 63.97% it won in the 2014 elections, but well ahead of the rest of the province.
Overall the party lost eight seats in the provincial legislature, going down to 44 from 52 seats.
The DA managed to hold its position as the official opposition in the region, increasing its support base from 19.71% to 22.2%.
PICS: North Coast voters make their mark in the 2019 National Elections
While the Inkatha Freedom Party failed to register significant growth on the North Coast with a decrease in its voter base from 6,36% to 5%, provincially the IFP displaced the DA as the official opposition in the province by increasing its seats from nine to 13, and the DA gained one seat, from 10 to 11.
The EFF doubled its support base in the KwaDukuza region from less than 4% in 2014 to 8.01% this time, and claiming eight seats in the provincial legislature, up from two seats in 2014.
In what is being described as the lowest-ever voter turnout since 1994 in the national vote, voters have sent their public representatives a clear message by staying away and forcing the voter turn-out to an unprecedented low of 65% for the national ballot.
KwaDukuza district had a 69.72% voter turnout, a whopping 8.4% drop since 2014.
ANC regional spokesperson Thandeka Ngidi blamed voter apathy for the poor voter participation.
“It is a very concerning, widespread issue that we need to look at together with other contributing factors for the drop in voter turnout, including placing an emphasis on voter education,” said Ngidi who praised the IEC staff and the SAPS for ensuring the elections were incident free.
DA caucus leader of KDM, Madhun Sing, said he was proud of his party’s achievements in the Ilembe region which saw a growth in its support base in Mandini, Ndwedwe and Maphumulo.
“This result bodes well for the 2021 local government elections and will act as a springboard for the party to do even better,” said Sing.
EFF deputy spokesperson for Ilembe, Zethu Makhamya said her party was happy with the election results despite the high volume of spoilt ballots and low voter turnout.
“We might not have won the elections but we came out stronger than ever and the EFF in Ilembe region will continue to grow its numbers.”
IEC regional supervisor for Ilembe district, Paul Daniels, said that despite the 2019 general elections being the most highly contested with a record 48 registered parties, no incidents were reported in the region.
“KwaDukuza was flagged as a high-risk area for election violence given the various service delivery protests that have taken place in the past few months. Political violence and factionalism has also marred the region so we were pleased voting progressed smoothly with no disruptions at the polling stations or community protests,” said Daniels.
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