The FF Plus has taken a ward off the DA in the by-elections in Mamusa, which includes the town of Schweizer-Reneke, the party has said.

While the official results had not yet been released by the IEC at the time of writing, FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald claimed victory in Ward 9 – which was held by the DA before the municipality was put under administration – after Wednesday’s by-elections.

He said in a tweet that his party had garnered 797 votes, compared to the DA’s 222.

In a statement on Facebook, he said this was the third ward that the FF Plus had taken from the DA in North West.

“The FF Plus’s number of votes has grown by 87.5% since the 2016 municipal elections, while the DA lost 65% of… votes,” he said.

Groenewald said the FF Plus’s victorious candidate, Nico Killian, was an experienced councillor who would do everything in his power to serve the interests of Ward 9’s citizens.

The DA’s showing in by-elections since the May 2019 elections has been dismal, and its handling of alleged racism at a Schweizer-Reneke school about a year ago is believed to be one of the reasons it lost support to the FF Plus, in particular in the North West, according to a party report.

The ANC appears to have held onto the other eight wards in Mamusa, but elections analyst Dawie Scholtz tweeted that the EFF had made massive inroads, upwards of 15% in some wards.

It is expected that the Electoral Commission of South Africa will release the official results later on Thursday.

ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula will hold a press briefing on the Mamusa results at noon on Thursday.

Source: http://www.news24.com