ANC admits defeat in W Cape
The DA racked up major victories in Western Cape municipalities, leaving little for the ANC leaders at the IEC results centre to smile about.
|||Cape Town - The DA racked up major victories in Western Cape municipalities, leaving little for the ANC leaders at the province’s IEC results centre to smile about.
From provisional election results on Thursday afternoon it seemed that the DA has wrestled Beaufort West, Laingsburg and Oudtshoorn from ANC-led coalitions.
The ruling party also appears to have lost the Matzikana and Cederberg Municipalities to the DA.
IEC provincial head Courtney Sampson indicated at a briefing that all the results from the Western Cape could be in by later on Thursday afternoon or early evening.
Speaking to Independent, the ANC's mayoral candidate for the Mother City, Xolani Sotashe conceded defeat and says they “fought a good fight” but it was apparent that he would not be the new mayor of the City of Cape Town.
He said this even as the IEC was still auditing results from some polling stations across the city.
“We are very grateful, we got votes in all the wards that we contested, and defended all the wards in our base (areas).
“We also reclaimed some of the wards that the DA won (from us) in 2011,” said Sotashe.
The ANC had reclaimed Ward 99 in Khayelitsha, which includes a small portion of Mitchell’s Plain, and Ward 88, which covers mostly informal settlements in Philippi but also includes areas of Mitchell’s Plain.
“We also won Ward 114 which covers areas like Bardale. We know that the current mayor went there and put all the resources of the City to ensure that people voted for the DA but we went there to ensure that we defended our base,” said Sotashe.
He said whatever the final outcome, the ANC will accept the result.
“It’s the will of the people. If it happens that Patricia de Lille wins then I’ll extend my hand and congratulate her and then we’ll get down to business and ensure that we represent our people (in council),” said Sotashe.
He said the ANC would accept its place on the opposition seats in Cape Town’s council chamber.
Party spokesperson Jabu Mfusi also said they were saddened by the losses.
“We have lost not only the district of the central Karoo but also in the West Coast at Matzikana and Cederberg.
“As the PEC we will have a meeting and give a comprehensive investigation to find out where we went wrong.”
Mfusi says despite the losses they have made inroads in other DA-run municipalities. He did not specify which areas.
“But we are looking to get into partnerships with other parties,” he added.
“We congratulate the DA for being victors in the municipalities they won.”
By the early afternoon, results were not yet final for the City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Knysna municipalities.
But judging by the early numbers, the DA already led by high numbers.
DA Western Cape leader and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said her party had made major gains in the province.
“We are humbled in the confidence that the people (of the Western Cape) have shown in the Democratic Alliance and we must now build on that. We will certainly work with the people of the Western Cape and take it to another level,” said De Lille.
She expressed satisfaction with the IEC, saying that there were no major issues, or complaints.
“They are still busy counting the votes but we have no major complaints,” said De Lille.
Elections Bureau