Durban — The DA’s reign in eThekwini Municipality’s ward 34 came to an end after Independent candidate Andrew Akkers won the ward during a fiercely contested by-election on Wednesday.
Among the areas that fall under ward 34 demarcation are Greenwood Park, Kenville, Sea Cow Lake and Effingham.
Akkers is also chairperson of the ward’s Ratepayers and Residents Association (RRA). He snatched the ward off the DA with 43% of the votes.
The Jacob Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe Party took the second spot with 19%, while the ANC managed 18%, a drop from the 27% that the party garnered in 2021.
The DA, which previously governed the ward, plunged from the 39% it got in 2021 to 15%, while the Africa Movement Change got 4%.
Reacting to his victory, Akkers said: “I am grateful to all the people who voted for me as an independent candidate. We did not have much time to campaign as we only started our campaign in the past two weeks, but we still managed to win the ward,” he said.
Akkers is a well-known community activist in the ward, having led a series of meetings and demonstrations over the water and electricity outages that have plagued many neighbourhoods under the ward.
“This victory belongs to the people of the ward. I will do everything in my power to make sure that the lives of the people in the ward are uplifted,” said Akkers.
Also on his to-do list was fostering unity among the residents in Ward 34.
“We will achieve less things if we are divided. We need to unite as people regardless of race so that we can achieve great things as residents,” he said.
The ward became vacant after the resignation of DA councillor Bobby Maharaj in May this year.
Meanwhile, the MKP won its second ward in the country since its formation in September last year. This after the party wrested ward 45 in the North West’s Photsaneng region from its arch-rival, the ANC, during a by-election, which was also held on Wednesday.
The party also governed ward 11 under Umzumbe Local Municipality after former ANC speaker, Sibonelo Maphumulo, joined the MKP in December following his strained relationship with party leaders, including provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo.
The leaders accused Maphumulo, a prominent figure on the south coast, of plotting to unseat the ANC mayor, Bongani Nyuzwa. He was expelled from the party and contested and won the ward 11 by-election in June.
Despite the failure to win ward 34, party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlhela said the party was “pleased” with its run in the by-elections.
“We won ward 45 in the North West and took the second spot in ward 34 in eThekwini. We are pleased with the results, and I thank the people who voted for the MK Party,” he said.
Many parties would contest the upcoming by-elections to test their political strategies and use them as a launching pad to fine-tune campaigns ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
At stake during the local polls is the control of wards and municipalities – including metros such as eThekwini Municipality, with a cool budget of R67 billion.
The municipality is governed by an ANC-led coalition with smaller parties after the once-dominant party failed to retain its 50+1 outright majority during the 2021 local government elections.
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Daily News