Pretoria – The majority of the political parties contesting this year’s Local Government Elections say they are satisfied with the current election results.
Currently, the African National Congress (ANC) is in the lead in most provinces followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
ANC National Chairperson Baleka Mbete said she was confident of the party’s overall win of the municipalities.
“We definitely going to take control of most of the municipalities,” she said. “We think we have a good reason to celebrate,” she added.
DA candidate for ward 57 in Tshwane, Clive Napier, said they were happy with developments concerning the main Opposition party.
“We are confident that we are going to control some of the municipalities,” he said.
Pan African Congress (PAC) Secretary General Mfanelo Skwatsha told BuaNews that so far they were happy with the results.”We think we will do better than the previous elections. We are anxiously waiting for the final outcomes and we hope our followers had supported us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the newly formed party led by Zanele Magwaza, the National Freedom Party (NFP) had surprised many in the political arena by securing substantial votes.
Asked about the performance of the party, the party’s Provincial Coordinator Frank Martine said they had worked hard to secure the votes. “We are hopeful that we will take control of some of the municipalities. We are also satisfied with the results, we just waiting for the final outcomes.”
So far the NFP is leading in the Zululand district in KwaZulu-Natal, ahead of the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
IFP Secretary General Reverend Musa Zondi said he was disappointed with the performance of his party. “We hope things will change as the day progresses,” he said.
Political party representatives at the national Results Operation Centre (ROC) are in a jovial mood as the results trickle in, indicating improvement from the morning’s preliminary results.
Congress of the People (COPE) Head of Elections, Ndzipo Kalipa had also expressed confidence that the party will take its rightful position to play a role in determining the course of local government in South Africa.
“This election has proven that COPE is the only party that is able to make inroads in the traditional ANC strongholds in the deep rural and other areas,” Kalipa said.
The final results are expected to be announced before Sunday. – BuaNews
