Abaqulusi Local Municipality elections

The Abaqulusi Local Municipality council within the South African Zululand District Municipality consists of forty-four members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-two wards, while the remaining twenty-two are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.

In the election of 3 August 2016 no party obtained a majority. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) formed a government with the support of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).^[1]^[2]

In the election of 1 November 2021 again no party obtained a majority, with the IFP obtaining a plurality of twenty-one seats.

Results

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.

Event	ANC	DA	EFF	IFP	NFP	Other	Total
2000 election	7	5	-	27	-	0	39
2006 election	10	4	-	22	-	3	39
2011 election	17	3	-	16	7	1	44
2016 election	21	3	1	19	-	0	44
2021 election	14	2	3	21	4	1	45

December 2000 election

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[3]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	19,877	68.84	16	20,062	69.18	11	27
	African National Congress	5,262	18.22	2	5,064	17.46	5	7
	Democratic Alliance	3,540	12.26	2	3,875	13.36	3	5
	Independent candidates	197	0.68	0				0
Total		28,876	100.00	20	29,001	100.00	19	39

Valid votes		28,876	97.48		29,001	97.58
Invalid/blank votes		748	2.52		720	2.42
Total votes		29,624	100.00		29,721	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		66,023	44.87		66,023	45.02

March 2006 election

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[4]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	19,545	54.98	13	20,111	57.25	9	22
	African National Congress	9,551	26.87	4	9,678	27.55	6	10
	Democratic Alliance	3,265	9.18	2	3,317	9.44	2	4
	National Democratic Convention	1,207	3.40	0	1,356	3.86	1	1
	Independent candidates	1,452	4.08	1				1
	African Christian Democratic Party	530	1.49	0	669	1.90	1	1
Total		35,550	100.00	20	35,131	100.00	19	39

Valid votes		35,550	98.03		35,131	97.03
Invalid/blank votes		713	1.97		1,076	2.97
Total votes		36,263	100.00		36,207	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		72,076	50.31		72,076	50.23

May 2011 election

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[5]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	19,082	38.10	10	19,506	38.95	7	17
	Inkatha Freedom Party	17,639	35.22	10	17,434	34.81	6	16
	National Freedom Party	8,153	16.28	0	8,231	16.44	7	7
	Democratic Alliance	3,181	6.35	2	3,484	6.96	1	3
	Owethu Residents Organisation	1,187	2.37	0	957	1.91	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	439	0.88	0	153	0.31	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	291	0.58	0	240	0.48	0	0
	Independent candidates	103	0.21	0				0
	Royal Loyal Progress	12	0.02	0	77	0.15	0	0
Total		50,087	100.00	22	50,082	100.00	22	44

Valid votes		50,087	98.38		50,082	98.49
Invalid/blank votes		825	1.62		770	1.51
Total votes		50,912	100.00		50,852	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		84,131	60.52		84,131	60.44

August 2016 election

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[6]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	24,663	45.50	11	25,517	46.93	10	21
	Inkatha Freedom Party	22,546	41.59	9	23,202	42.68	10	19
	Democratic Alliance	3,990	7.36	2	4,183	7.69	1	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	851	1.57	0	920	1.69	1	1
	Independent candidates	1,657	3.06	0				0
	Freedom Front Plus	500	0.92	0	545	1.00	0	0
Total		54,207	100.00	22	54,367	100.00	22	44

Valid votes		54,207	98.66		54,367	98.79
Invalid/blank votes		739	1.34		665	1.21
Total votes		54,946	100.00		55,032	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		97,881	56.14		97,881	56.22

August 2016 to November 2021 by-elections

In a by election held in March 2019 the ANC won a ward previously held by the IFP, reconstituting the council as follows:

Party		Ward	PR list	Total
	ANC	12	10	22
	Inkatha Freedom Party	8	10	18
	DA	2	1	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	1	1
Total		22	22	44

November 2021 election

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[7]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	19,921	44.07	18	21,175	46.62	3	21
	African National Congress	13,991	30.95	4	14,193	31.25	10	14
	National Freedom Party	3,438	7.61	0	3,422	7.53	4	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	2,302	5.09	0	2,456	5.41	3	3
	Democratic Alliance	2,232	4.94	1	2,361	5.20	1	2
	Independent candidates	1,500	3.32	0				0
	Freedom Front Plus	573	1.27	0	552	1.22	1	1
	Abantu Batho Congress	350	0.77	0	293	0.65	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	248	0.55	0	255	0.56	0	0
	Development of Jobs in Vryheid	215	0.48	0	193	0.42	0	0
	African People's Movement	210	0.46	0	175	0.39	0	0
	Land Party	57	0.13	0	106	0.23	0	0
	African Mantungwa Community	72	0.16	0	69	0.15	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	51	0.11	0	64	0.14	0	0
	The Organic Humanity Movement	43	0.10	0	41	0.09	0	0
	National People's Front	3	0.01	0	61	0.13	0	0
Total		45,206	100.00	23	45,416	100.00	22	45

Valid votes		45,206	98.58		45,416	98.67
Invalid/blank votes		650	1.42		610	1.33
Total votes		45,856	100.00		46,026	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		96,719	47.41		96,719	47.59

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from November 2021.^[8]

Date	Ward
30 November 2022	13	Inkatha Freedom Party	Inkatha Freedom Party
5 April 2023^[9]	12	African National Congress	African National Congress
7 February 2024^[10]	8	Inkatha Freedom Party	Inkatha Freedom Party

After the death of the previous IFP councillor in a car accident, a by-election was held on 30 November. The IFP candidate improved the party's showing, increasing their vote share from 34% to 59%.^[11]

After the resignation of the ward 8 councillor, the resulting by-election saw the first electoral contest by the uMkhonto we Sizwe, which finished third, with 19%, behind the African National Congress (ANC) on 31%. The IFP retained the seat with 47%.^[10]

References

^ "Results Summary – All Ballots: Abaqulusi" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
^ "Seat Calculation Detail: Abaqulusi" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
^ "Municipal By-elections results - Electoral Commission of South Africa". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
^ Sussman, Wayne (6 April 2023). "APRIL BY-ELECTIONS: Key Tshwane win gives ANC a motivation boost while DA suffers low-turnout blow". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b Sussman, Wayne (8 February 2024). "IFP retains Vryheid, KZN ward amid ANC gains, strong MK debut". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
^ Sussman, Wayne (1 December 2022). "NOVEMBER BY-ELECTION: ANC posts strong results in rural KZN and Eastern Cape". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

[1] "Results Summary – All Ballots: Abaqulusi" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.

[2] "Seat Calculation Detail: Abaqulusi" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.

[3] "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[4] "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[5] "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[6] "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[7] "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Abaqulusi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 27 November 2021.

[8] "Municipal By-elections results - Electoral Commission of South Africa". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

[9] Sussman, Wayne (6 April 2023). "APRIL BY-ELECTIONS: Key Tshwane win gives ANC a motivation boost while DA suffers low-turnout blow". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

[dm_2024_02-10] Sussman, Wayne (8 February 2024). "IFP retains Vryheid, KZN ward amid ANC gains, strong MK debut". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 8 February 2024.

[11] Sussman, Wayne (1 December 2022). "NOVEMBER BY-ELECTION: ANC posts strong results in rural KZN and Eastern Cape". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

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