IFP leads in more KZN municipalities despite MK Party's provincial vote lead

The IFP is leading in 18 KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, compared with the MK Party's 17, despite the latter securing the largest share of the provincial vote as 96% of results are processed.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party is leading the KwaZulu-Natal provincial vote with 34.54% of the valid votes, but the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is ahead in the number of municipalities it is leading, as 31 of the province's 44 councils remain hung.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) results dashboard showed at 7am on Saturday, November 7, that 96% of KwaZulu-Natal's election results had been processed, with the MK Party receiving 2,062,637 votes and securing 524 council seats.

The IFP had 20.86% of the vote, representing 1,245,446 votes and 447 seats, while the African National Congress (ANC) was in third place with 20.65%, or 1,232,958 votes and 330 seats.

Despite trailing the MK Party in the provincial vote, the IFP was leading in 18 municipalities, compared with the MK Party's 17. The ANC was leading in three municipalities, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was ahead in one.

The results showed that the IFP had secured outright control of five councils, followed by the MK Party with three. The ANC and DA had secured one council each.

A further 31 municipalities had no outright winner, while results in three municipalities had yet to be calculated.

The emerging provincial results come as the MK Party has lodged a formal objection with the IEC over alleged irregularities in the voting, counting and electronic capturing of results in eThekwini.

In a statement issued late on Friday, the party said its acting secretary-general, Lindiwe Makubu, had submitted the objection under Section 65 of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act.

The party raised concerns about alleged system failures at the eThekwini Results Operations Centre, discrepancies between electronically captured results and physical results slips, as well as the counting, verification and reconciliation of ballots.

“The objection raises concerns regarding reported system failures, discrepancies between electronically captured results and physical results slips, as well as irregularities in the counting, verification and reconciliation processes, particularly within the eThekwini municipality,” the party said.

The MK Party has asked the commission to freeze the processing of contested ballots, allow independent forensic analysts to examine the count and resolve outstanding discrepancies before declaring the final municipal results.

It has also called for an independent forensic investigation into the alleged network glitch at the eThekwini results centre.

The results mark a significant shift in KwaZulu-Natal's political landscape, with the MK Party continuing to challenge the ANC's traditional support base in the province.

As IOL previously reported, the MK Party won the 2024 provincial election with 45.35% of the vote, relegating the ANC to second place.

The party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, entered its first local government election after its strong performance in the 2024 national and provincial elections.

The ANC, which previously dominated much of the province's political landscape, is now trailing both the MK Party and the IFP in the latest provincial results.

The DA had secured 13.27% of the vote and 126 seats, while the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) had 1.83% and 33 seats.

ActionSA had 1.24% and seven seats, the Freedom Front Plus 0.71% and seven seats, while the National Freedom Party (NFP) had 0.69% and 14 seats.

The large number of hung councils means political parties will have to negotiate with other formations to secure governing majorities in several municipalities.

The IFP's lead in 18 municipalities gives it a different advantage from the MK Party, which has the highest overall provincial vote share and number of seats.

The final allocation of seats will determine which parties can form governing majorities and whether coalition arrangements will be necessary.

The IEC dashboard showed that 4,877 of the province's 5,028 voting districts had been completed, while 833 of 921 wards had been processed.

Results from 41 of the 44 municipalities had been completed, with 1,545 of the 1,798 available council seats allocated.

The IEC is expected to announce the final election results on Sunday, November 8.