As the first day of counting for the 2024 election drew to a close, the African National Congress (ANC) had lost a significant portion of its support in South Africa’s economic heartland.
At 5.30pm on Thursday, with 16% of the voting districts completed, the ANC had garnered just 33.94% of the Gauteng vote. It was trailed closely by the Democratic Alliance (DA) at 30.27%.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) followed in a distant third place at 11.77%, with the MK Party breathing down its neck at 9.31%. ActionSA (3.44%) and FF+ (2.89%) completed the top six.
Among the newer parties, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) stood at 1.79% and Rise Mzansi had garnered 0.89% of the vote and Bosa 0.66%.
In 2019, the ANC managed 50.19% of the vote, placing it significantly ahead of the DA (27.5%) and EFF (14%).
The DA’s spokesperson at the Gauteng Results Operations Centre, Mike Moriarty, who is a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, said the voter turnout was very significant in those areas where the DA normally achieves a majority and less so in areas where the ANC usually dominates.
Speaking of the early Gauteng results, Moriarty said: “We think we can get close to them, largely on the basis that we have improved the favourability of ourselves among the voters, I think it was demonstrated in the queues.”
On the possibility of an alliance with the ANC, Moriarty said: “Our position is that we support the Multi-Party Charter, and I see no change in that position, although I’m not privy to these things.”
The ANC’s provincial elections manager, Thulani Kunene said the party was hopeful that it would receive more votes as the process unfolded, but would not comment on any potential coalitions in the province.
“Let’s wait for results, then the leadership will decide how we move forward.”
Rise Mzansi’s Michael Shackleton, who is the party’s regional chairperson for the Tshwane area, said it was inevitable that Gauteng would be governed by a coalition. Although the party elected not to join the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), as its numbers were not deemed sufficient for a victory, he said Rise Mzansi would be willing to work with any party that aligned with its principles, such as integrity, justice and the rule of law.
Shackleton also expressed concern that the MPC could effectively hand the province back to the ANC, if they were only willing to work with parties within their charter.
Rise Mzansi and other relatively new parties such as the Patriotic Alliance (PA) expressed satisfaction with the voting results that had trickled in by Thursday afternoon.
“We are happy, we are demonstrating growth, South Africans are demonstrating appreciation of the Patriotic Alliance, for Africa,” said the PA’s provincial secretary Solly Mkhize.
IOL