ANC in KZN: Many structures were unprepared for elections
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal says many of their structures went into the local government elections unprepared.
Provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala says it's one of the reasons for the party's performance.
The ANC has been outshone by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in northern KZN.
The IFP has won 16 of the councils there.
Speaking at a party briefing on Thursday, Zikalala said supporters in ANC strongholds not turning up to vote is a concern.
"They rather decided not to vote and causal factors are the objective conditions firstly and those conditions are unemployment. So the honest reflection is that the ANC support base is hurting and disappointed."
There'll be a coalition government in the eThekwini metro after the ANC lost its majority.
With 100 percent of the results in the municipality in, the party has received 42% of the votes. It's down from 56% in 2016.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is second with 25%, followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 10%.
ANC provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli says the loss of its majority in a big metro has implications for the future of party.
"The immediate implication that is of concern to us is that it creates an impression and it sets the scene towards 2024 that the ANC if it doesn't attend to many of the challenges that we have identified, will not be able to come back as a governing party in KwaZulu-Natal. That's the implication of losing the biggest party of your province."
According to the IEC's preliminary results, ANC has won 784 seats across KZN, the IFP has 522 seats and the DA 174.
There are 18 hung councils in the province.
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