South Africa’s opposition, Democratic Alliance, won the symbolic Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in the local election seen as a barometer of the ruling ANC’S popularity, two decades after the end of apartheid.
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“We will not lie and say that we are not anxious when we lose a metro like Nelson Mandela Bay”, he said in an interview.
The elections Wednesday were the most closely contested for the ruling party since it took power in South Africa’s first all-race elections in 1994. The ANC is now leading with 73,56 per cent, followed by the DA on 16,92 per cent and the EFF on 6,7 per cent.
The DA has also benefited from an image change, promoting a diverse range of candidates including its first black leader, 36-year-old part-time preacher Mmusi Maimane, who has headed the party since last year.
The results were seen as a marker ahead of the next general election due in 2019.
“(They want) to focus on important service delivery areas and then come in and prove they can run major councils more effectively, and with less corruption than the ANC”, he said in a research note.
With 35% of votes verified by the IEC for Johannesburg on Thursday just after 3.30 pm, the DA was leading with 42.7%, the ANC was at ANC (41.38%) and the EFF (9.96%).
According to official results on Friday, the DA was on 25 percent with the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on nine percent.
He said while the final votes were still being tallied, it was positive news.
The ANC has haemorrhaged support throughout South Africa and will be finishing off with a smaller portion of the votes than it did back in 2011.
ANC’s poor performance in the polls is being linked to various scandals faced by Zuma in recent years.
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– Of the eight wards in Roodepoort, six have been counted and show the DA in the lead.
