BY REGINALD KANYANE

THE African National Congress in North West province welcomed the outcome of Matlosana Ward 13 by-elections where they obtained 78% victory. The provincial secretary, Dakota Legoete said: “The election results are testimony that the ANC still enjoys support from community of that area. The outcome also represents a picture of how the ANC is going to perform in the coming local government elections.

“The ANC is also disappointed in the results of the Rustenburg ward 17 by-election which were won by the Democratic Alliance. The outcome has taught us a lesson that Ward 17 in Rustenburg is white dominated and only few blacks residing there are labourers. We have however resolved to focus much on getting maximum votes in historically white dominated areas.”

Legoete said the ANC celebrated because the signs of positive strides towards penetrating the white votes in Rustenburg were emerging. “Yesterday we welcomed comrade Maria Bodenstein who defected from her position as DA Ward 16 councilor to join the ranks of African National Congress. She has moved away from the ranks of those who still believed that PW Botha is the solution and joined the democratic forces of the left.  We are gladly welcoming her as one of our own.

However newly sworn-in Democratic Alliance MP leader, Joe McGluwa said: “The loss of the ANC in Rustenburg augurs well for the DA. The results also show that people have lost trust in the ruling party. We are very grateful for the residents of Rustenburg to vote for the party that will cater for them. We are prepared for next year’s local government elections and we believe DA will do well.”

-TDN

Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_