Rustenburg - Ditsobotla local municipality in the North West province made news headlines, from work stoppages to parallel council structures.
The ANC-led Ditsobotla council was dissolved following in-fighting that led to the existence of two parallel municipal councils operating in the municipality, with two mayors, two speakers and two chief whips.
In the December 14 by-election, the ANC lost its majority in the council by five seats and was put below 40%.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) increased their seats by four, snatching two wards from the ANC.
In the dissolved council, the ANC had had a majority of 21 seats, and their seats were reduced to 16 in the by-election.
The ANC won 15 wards and one proportional representative (PR) seat, taking their total seats to 16 in the 39-seat council.
The EFF won two wards from the ANC and eight PR seats. The EFF had six PR seats in the dissolved council.
The Democratic Alliance won three wards and three PR seats, the party had the same number of seats in the dissolved council, and Forum 4 Service Delivery retained its two PR seats.
The Patriotic Alliance won two PR seats, Save Ditsobotla Movement, Freedom Front Plus and African Heart Congress each won a PR seat.
The ANC in North West said it welcomed the results of the by-election.
"We remained committed to strengthening service delivery and cementing our quest to build better communities.
"The decisive victory of 15 wards out of 20 is a testament that the people of Ditsobotla are committed to building a municipality that delivers on its mandate. We call on all elected councillors not to lose sight of this outpouring confidence in our movement and ensure that quality service delivery is achieved," provincial secretary, Louis Diremelo, said in a statement.
He said it was not an easy by-election as the ANC had to robustly infuse self-introspection emanating from the results.
The DA said it was elated by the Ditsobotla by-election results.
"Our promise to rebuild Ditsobotla resonated with voters, and they continue to increasingly place their trust in the only party that is capable to rebuild what the ANC has destroyed over the last three decades.
"The DA obtained 14.93% of the vote, a growth from the 14.4% result during last year’s local government elections. We performed exceptionally well in Wards 6, 7, and 15, showing increased DA support," provincial leader Leon Basson said.
"The ANC’s performance yesterday (Wednesday) dropped to just 39.82% of the vote. This by-election is a watershed moment in electoral politics and sets the pace to see the fall of the ANC below 50% nationally in 2024, ushering in a new era of a DA-led national government," Basson said.
Ditsobotla is not new to controversy. In May 2017, former mayor Daniel Buthelezi was held hostage in the council building, and a portion of the building was torched.
IOL