Durban – With the 2021 local government elections results nearing completion, information coming in from the electoral commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday shows that the DA has obtained a majority vote in both the Chatsworth and Phoenix areas, while the party appears to have lost support in uMlazi, just south of Durban.
Although the DA managed to secure the majority vote in Chatsworth and Phoenix, both areas with 90 000 voters, respectively, other political parties like the IFP and newcomer ActionSA have also been gaining ground, while the ANC appears to be in a steady decline since the 2016 elections.
Chatsworth had a 47% voter turnout, 66% of which swayed in the direction of the DA, 11% to the ANC, 4% to the IFP and 2% to ActionSA. The DA obtained 76% in 2016 and 64% in 2019, while the ANC dropped by 7% since 2019. Voter turnout in Chatsworth decreased by 22% since 2019.
In Phoenix voter turnout was at 47%. Sixty-one percent of the voters went with the DA, followed by the ANC with 9%, the IFP with 6% and ActionSA with 2%. The ANC declined in votes for the third consecutive election, after having 17% in 2016 and 14% in 2019.
Despite being a newly formed political party contesting in its debut local government election, ActionSA secured 1.93% of the support in eThekwini.
The DA’s Haniff Hoosen said the party’s success in Phoenix had little to do with the controversial posters that were put up during the party’s election campaign trail. Hoosen said the DA did not put up the posters, which read: “The ANC calls you racist. The DA calls you heroes”, in Chatsworth, yet still managed to secure the vote.
“I think one of the most important reasons is that we have a sustained presence on the ground in those areas. Our councillors work daily, they are accessible as often as they can late into the night, walking the streets and assisting people. It's for that reason I think that people have recognised that we are in it to win it,” Hoosen told Independent Media.
Political Bureau