Of the 9201 council seats in contention, the African National Congress (ANC) has won 5108 eight seats so far, while the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has won 1702 so far.
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The Democratic Alliance angered the ANC last month by declaring that it was the only party that could realise Mr Mandela’s dream of a “prosperous, united and non-racial South Africa”.
Media captionWhat matters to young South African voters?
Defeat in Port Elizabeth by a margin of 46.7 to 40 per cent was a humiliating blow for the ANC, as the municipality is officially known as “Nelson Mandela Bay” in tribute to its past as a hotbed of anti-apartheid activism.
More than 200 political parties and 61,000 candidates are participating in South African municipal elections, which are the fifth in a row in the country.
Nicholas Dawes, Chief Content Editor at Hindustan Times, a South African expert told NDTV, “The rural people still relate to it as a party of freedom fighters but the urban have begun to see that ANC is corrupt”.
But it was 62% sharp fall from 2011 municipal elections, signifying voters are losing patience with Zuma, who anxious investors by changing finance minister for twice in a week December and sending the rand currency dropping.
The leaders of the Premier League are likely to be cheered by the latest election results, which demonstrated the party’s increasing reliance on their constituency, and to gain sway over who succeeds Zuma as party leader when his current term ends late next year.
The DA won the strategic Nelson Mandela Bay metro, dubbed as “home of the ANC”.
The DA, which had its roots as the anti-apartheid party of white liberals, is now run by its first black leader Mmusi Maimane, 36. It has been pushing hard to win supporters in other regions, saying its brand is good governance.
South Africans should start embracing the era of coalition governments because there was little hope that individual political parties would dethrone the African National Congress (ANC) on their own, a political analyst said. He said the idea that his party was a white one has been “completely shattered”.
Malema has drawn support with promises to redistribute among poor black people wealth still mostly in white hands – policies that both the DA and the ANC have not found palatable.
South Africa’s economy has failed to get back on track since being hit by the 2008 global financial crisis. The Constitutional Court recently said Zuma violated the constitution and instructed him to reimburse the state $507,000.
The league said the low voter turnout, particularly in ANC stronghold areas, was a clear signal that “society is disappointed with us”.
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Scandals swirling around Zuma have also hurt the ANC. Opposition groups have also claimed he is too heavily influenced by wealthy Indian business family, the Guptas.
