ANC faces electoral pressure but rules out one response
MIDRAND — The ANC will not blame or discredit the Electoral Commission if the municipal election results disappoint it, national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has said. His assurance came as counting continued, with early returns showing the party under pressure and facing further negotiations over control of councils.
Speaking at the IEC’s national results centre, Mantashe said the ANC would protect the commission’s credibility regardless of whether it welcomed the outcome. He argued that competition from a growing number of parties, including organisations focused on local communities, had to be accepted as part of the democratic process.
The commitment comes against a difficult electoral backdrop. IOL reported that at 12.20pm on Thursday, with 31% of votes counted, the ANC stood at 32.18% nationally and the DA at 27.94%. Those were incomplete returns, rather than final results, but placed the ANC well below its 45.59% share in the 2021 municipal elections.
Mantashe had also urged the party to draw on its experience in the Government of National Unity when building municipal coalitions. According to Eyewitness News, he said the ANC should be prepared to work with other parties where it could not govern alone, while acknowledging that cooperation in the national government had not always been straightforward.
The IEC, meanwhile, has urged parties and the public to avoid circulating unverified results. Deputy chief electoral officer Masego Shiburi said contestants could lodge objections material to election outcomes, providing a formal process for disputes while counting and verification continued.
Readers can follow incoming figures through TownPress’s live dashboard across the website, as well as its election results and results breakdown pages. Final council seat allocations will determine where parties can govern outright and where agreements with rivals will be needed.
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