Newcastle voters reflect an altered political landscape in KZN
Nearly 200,000 Newcastle residents turned out to vote in last week's elections with the majority of voters reflecting the sentiments of the rest of KZN in throwing their weight behind the ‘new kid on the block’ MK Party.
Locally, 60,825 (52%) people cast their ballots for the MK Party in the regional election. The IFP garnered the second highest with 23,894 votes (20,43%), the ANC came in third with 14,128 votes (12,08%), the DA fourth place with 9,369 votes (8,01%), and the EFF fifth with 4,415 votes (3,77%).
Nonhlanhla Mbonane, IEC Amajuba District Regional Manager, praised the work of the IEC ‘despite significant challenges that contributed to delayed time at the queues and voters’ dissatisfaction with the voting experience.’
“All voting stations opened on time and although there were queues in the evening, IEC staff was able to re-organise lines and ensure a smoother faster flow,” she said.
“We do apologise to those who had to stand in queues for extended periods before they could vote. This was largely because of an influx of voters at certain periods. Going forward we encourage voters not to wait until the last few hours to cast their ballots to avoid congestion and long queues” she continued
Results announced by IEC Provincial Manager, Sandile Maphumulo, show the top five political parties that garnered the most votes in the province were MK, IFP, ANC, DA, and EFF, respectively.
More than 45,35% of KZN voters backed former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party on the provincial ballot. The regional ballot was similar, with the MK winning over 44,89%
With 18,28 per cent on the provincial ballot and 18,28 per cent on the regional ballot, provincially, the IFP finished second. The ruling ANC came in third with 16,99 per cent of the vote in the province and 17,22 per cent of the vote in the region. The DA received 13,36 votes, but in the regional allocation, it received 13,46 per cent, while the EFF secured fifth place with 10,14% of the provincial vote and 2,38% of the votes cast in the regional ballot.
Where to from here?
Within 14 days of the election results being finalised, the Provincial legislature must hold a sitting where members are sworn in and the speaker of the legislature is elected. Thereafter, the majority vote of the 200 seats in the legislature elects the premier of the province. Once the premier is elected, the process of forming a government, including appointing MECs, follows.
With no political party achieving the outright majority in the provincial ballot, a coalition government is inevitable, with the MK player a major player in the governance talks in the province. Currently, the seats allocated to the national assembly are MK-37 seats, IFP-15 seats, ANC-14 seats, DA-11 seats, and EFF-2 seats.
Currently, the MK Party is asking the IEC for a recount of the votes, accusing the IEC of vote rigging. The party has also remained defiant that they will not attend parliament until the outcomes of the court proceedings.
In a letter written to parliament, MK Party Nhlamulo Ndlela said:|
“Attending the first sitting of Parliament without all our votes and voices being counted would betray our commitment to unity and democratic values where every voice and wish deserves to be heard.”
“Therefore, the MK Party will only consider entering Parliament upon the conclusion of our imminent urgent court applications, where we will present sufficient evidence demonstrating that the IEC rigged the elections to the detriment of the MK Party and other parties.”
MK has also filed papers with the courts to interdict the first sitting of parliament, calling for their grievances against the IEC to be resolved first.
The National Assembly has confirmed that the first sitting of the National Assembly, where members will be sworn in, will go ahead as planned.
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