By Luvuyo Mjekula
The ANC has won the fiercely-contested Makana Ward 10 by-election to fill the vacancy left open after the passing of councillor Zodwa Cetu two months ago.
The results show the ANC had won the by-election by 49.76%, followed by the DA with just over 26% and the Makana Citizens Front (MCF) with 9.53%.
IEC provincial spokesperson, Sanda Nodada, said the final results will be made public on Monday. Said Nodada: “Final results are only released once the objection window period has expired.”
The report also showed the ANC’s performance in the 2021 elections, a resounding 67.34%. ANC Makana Sub-region leader and Council Speaker Mabhuti Matyumza confirmed to Grocott’s Mail this morning that the ANC had won the ward “convincingly”. The ANC caucus in the Makana Municipal Council reportedly celebrated the victory at an ordinary council meeting at the Settlers Monument yesterday .
Matyumza and mayor Yandiswa Vara updated profile images on their social media accounts to reflect the victory. Meanwhile, on its Facebook page, the Eastern Cape ANC posted a message titled: ANC Eastern Cape celebrates by-election victory in Makana Local Municipality.
Mbeju comes out on top
Six candidates — Andile Mbeju (ANC), Nomathamsanqa Mavikela (Patriotic Alliance), Chris Bodla (Democratic Alliance), Phaphama Nkontsa (Economic Freedom Fighters), Mncedisi Papu (South African Communist Party) as well as Thembinkosi Master Ngeleza (Makana Citizens Front) –contested the by-election.
The election was held at three voting stations – Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) Church in Z Street, BB Zondani Hall in Victoria Road and Nathaniel Nyaluza High School in A Street. Ward 10 comprises mainly Fingo Village and Tantyi Location in Makhanda’s Eastern side, Ward 10 and the area has abuzz with activity over the past few weeks as political parties hit the campaign trail on a daily basis.
Election without major incident
Other than a so-called demarcation problem, the Ward 10 by-election went on without major glitches, according to party leaders and agents. Speaking to Grocott’s Mail during voting, DA caucus leader, Luvuyo Sizani said the election went on without major issues, parties have been tolerant of each other.
There were a few incidents at the BB Zondani voting station, but others were quiet. A party agent at the Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School in Fingo Village reported a low voter turnout. This was exacerbated by some voters being turned away because of the demarcation problem.
At the Nathaniel Nyaluza voting station, Patriotic Alliance voting district captain, Beauty Nyandeni, said between 40 and 45 voters were turned away. Trying to explain the problem, Nyandeni said some registered voters said when they had checked their registration statuses on the IEC app, they had received confusing feedback – their voting station needed to be verified. However, they had decided to go exercise their right to vote anyway, only to be told they could not vote.
Nyandeni attributed the problem to new demarcations. “So, I think they’ve used the new demarcation which I feel is not fair to the community because they should have at least educated the community.” Grocott’s Mail reported in May that during a meeting of the Municipal Demarcation Board in Makhanda, draft ward boundaries were presented to the local municipality and residents.
At the meeting, it was also announced that the municipality would lose a ward and a proportional representation (PR) council seat due to insufficient registration numbers. However, the provincial IEC explained on Thursday the reasons some voters were turned away. “Yes, there were people who were turned away because they don’t belong to that ward – the addresses they had provided did not belong to that particular ward.”
