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The ANC has continued to function well in all municipalities in the country, retaining 12 districts and winning five new ones in Wednesday’s by-elections.
An IEC polling station. Image: IEC South Africa.
JOHANNESBURG – South Africans vote less on issues that affect local government and more on political issues at stake in the country.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said Thursday that the results of this week’s by-elections were a testament to that.
The African National Congress (ANC) has continued to perform well in the country’s municipalities, retaining 12 districts and winning five new ones in Wednesday’s by-elections.
ALSO READ: IEC considers the last round of by-elections a success despite low turnout
However, the party lost one neighborhood while the Democratic Alliance (DA) lost two and retained six.
Twenty-four districts in 17 municipalities were contested with 77 candidates representing 14 political parties and 18 independent candidates. Only 28% of the 171,000 eligible voters cast their votes.
In November, the ruling party secured 70 wards of the 95 in dispute, while the district attorney lost 9 wards. This was despite ongoing and well-publicized infighting in the ANC.
Mathekga said that if the vote were based on one issue, the ANC would not continue to do well at the polls.
ALSO READ: Extraordinary Measures Needed to Attract Young Voters – IEC
“My feeling is that our local government, as I have argued before, is becoming very politicized. [and] so overloaded that it’s less and less about the issues, “said Mathekga.
“It is almost as if the local government is a stage and a platform for issues related to national leadership. Why would the DA, which is not doing poorly where it is performing, not doing so well?”
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