The ANC secured the majority of the votes in all four wards in which the by-election in the Mangaung Metro were held yesterday.
Siza Sehlolo won the seat for ward 7, with a majority of 54,34% of the votes cast. Voter turnout was 33,63%.
Dikololo Matsepe won in ward 29 and the ANC retained the seat with a majority of 56,79% of the votes cast. Voter turnout was 40,93%.
Mohanuwa Lekhwele won ward 49 and retained the seat for the ANC with a majority of 41,41% of the votes cast. Voter turnout was 42,86%.
In ward 50 Thabo Monare won the seat with 63,60%. The voter turnout was 48,56%.
The ANC secured 6 720 votes in the four wards, with the EFF boasting second most with 2 885.
The four independent candidates who were formerly of the ANC, Mpho Mokoakoa (ward 29), Lehlohonolo Moqolo (ward 49), Makoa Lelala (ward 50) and Chabeli Frank Rampai (ward 7), as well as another independent candidate Lesawana Mothekhe (ward 29), received 15,19% of the total votes, with a total of 1 887 votes in the four wards. The four were were dismissed earlier in the year amid ructions surrounding the appointment of a new speaker.
Prof. Sethulego Matebesi, academic head of the Department of Sociology at the University of the Free State (UFS), says it is very important that stability returns to the Mangaung Metro.
“Vacancies have a huge impact on the functioning of council.”
He says the four dismissed ANC members returning to stand independently in the by-elections should be a worrying sign for the ANC.
The ANC now again claims 51 seats in the council of 101 in the metro.
