Poor showing in Rustenburg denies ANC cadres PR seats
With the ANC deprived of PR representation, this means all its political heavyweights on the party's PR list have not made it onto council.
The African National Congress (ANC) suffered a significant political setback in the Rustenburg Local Municipality during the recent elections. The elections saw the ANC fail to secure any proportional representation (PR) seats, leaving its senior leaders without council representation. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) confirmed that the party's performance in individual wards resulted in only 38.9% of the total vote.
IEC deputy spokesperson David Mandaha explained that the party secured 35 wards out of 45, which equated to its total seat allocation. Thereby, the ANC did not accumulate enough votes to gain any PR seats. This outcome, according to election results analyst Michael Atkins, is not unique to Rustenburg. In many other wards, the ANC won a higher percentage of the votes, yet the party ended up with fewer PR seats, thereby depriving other parties of their rightful representation.
With the ANC stripped of PR representation, its political heavyweights were denied council positions. This includes Rustenburg's former executive mayor Sheila Mabale-Huma, who was defeated by party candidate Thabiso Molefe, and council speaker Lebo Ndou, chief whip Rapula Wakhanda, North West legislature member Paul Sebegoe, ANC Women’s League provincial chair Wendy Matsemela, and ANC Youth League Bojanala regional secretary Pako Mokua.
Ward councillors, who were traditionally seen as junior politicians, now have the chance to rise to senior leadership positions like mayor, speaker, and chief whip.
The party's loss opens up opportunities for the 35 newly elected ward councillors to form the political leadership, potentially including the mayor, speaker, and chief whip. The mayor will appoint the executive team, including ministerial committee members (MMC), from the ANC and other parties. Following this election, Rustenburg became a hung council, meaning no party has a clear majority.
Opposition parties, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), ActionSA, and the South African Communist Party (SACP), have benefited from the ANC's poor showing in Rustenburg. The DA secured six PR and seven ward seats, while the EFF obtained one PR seat and 11 ward seats. ActionSA secured six PR seats, and the SACP managed to capture four seats. In addition, at least five newcomer parties secured a seat each on the council.
The ANC has experienced a gradual decline in Rustenburg since losing its outright majority in the 2021 local elections. Despite this, it has retained enough influence to continue reshuffling its coalition partners and dictating political terms.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
