The municipal voters of Limpopo gave the African National Congress (ANC) an overwhelming mandate in last week’s local government poll in the province, and the onus is now on the ruling party to justify the confidence placed in it.

The low voter turnout of 44% gave a hint of a worrying stay-away factor, due to an undertone of dissatisfaction. Analysts believe this should serve as a wake-up call to the ANC, to deal urgently with problems such as corruption, mismanagement and poor service delivery in many areas.

In last week’s elections, the two lowest polls in the country were recorded in Limpopo (44%), which is a predominantly rural province, and the highly urbanised Gauteng (42%). The ANC in Limpopo this time attracted 84% of the vote, compared to 89% in the previous election.

Limpopo provincial electoral officer Zwo Nevhutalu expressed concern about rising levels of intolerance in certain areas. Not surprisingly, one analyst predicted during an interview on SABC 2 that agitation regarding the ANC’s general complacency and its perceived slackness in dealing with corruption would come increasingly from within the party’s own ranks.

One study of the election results revealed that the ANC in Limpopo had not made any progress with its attempts to capture more so-called white support. In Polokwane, three current DA ward councillors were returned with handsome majorities by predominantly white voters. In Mookgopong (Naboomspruit), white voters in traditional Afrikaans-speaking wards turned out in force, and ensured a 15 % vote for the Freedom Front Plus.

The Democratic Alliance claimed it had attracted a larger number of black voters than before, and that it was the only party in Limpopo which significantly increased its overall support during the past two years (from 3% to 5%).

Detailed election results

The ANC came out on top in all 25 municipalities in Limpopo, achieving majorities of more than 80% in 16 of them.

In Greater Letaba, the ANC won 47 of the 52 seats.

In Mutale, the ANC won 20 of the 22 seats.

In Molemole, the ANC won 23 of the 25 seats.

The ruling party got 89.42% of the vote (23 seats) in Bela-Bela, compared to the DA’s 12.92% (2 seats).

Mogalakwena’s results showed the ANC took 55 of the 63 seats.

Lephalale: ANC majority (20 of the 24 seats).

In Polokwane, the ANC got 77.48% of the vote (58 of the 73 seats) - the DA won 7 seats.

In Makhuduthamaga, 54 of the 61 seats went to the ruling party.

The ANC obtained 83.25% of the vote in Fetakgomo.

Greater Marble Hall: 87.12% support for the ANC.

In Mookgopong, the ANC got 61.4% of the vote, while the Freedom Front received 15.93%.

Municipalities in which the ANC received 80% or more of the votes included Greater Tubatse, Greater Giyani, Greater Tzaneen, Thulamela, Makhado, Blouberg, Aganang, Le-pelle-Nkumpi, Maruleng and Greater Groblersdal.

The distribution of seats in the five most northern municipalities are:

Thulamela: ANC 66, DA 3, PAC 2, ACDP 2, XP 1, ID 1 and UDM 1.

Makhado: ANC 62, DA 4, ACDP 2, ID 2, XP 1, PAC 1 and UDM 1.

Greater Giyani: ANC 51, XP 3, UDM 2, DA 1, Independent 1, African Democratic Change 1 and ACDP 1.

Mutale: ANC 20, DA 1 and Azapo 1.

Musina: ANC 9, DA 1 and ACDP 1.

The seat allocation in the Vhembe District Municipality is: ANC 19 and the PAC, ACDP and DA one seat each.