DA takes lead in Phoenix despite poster debacle
The Democratic Alliance (DA) secured 62% of the votes in uMngeni municipality in KwaZulu-Natal with 78% of the ballots already tallied by Tuesday afternoon.
Phoenix, which saw some of the worst violence during the July unrest, made headlines during the election campaign after the DA put up controversial election posters. The posters, which read: "The ANC called you racists" and "The DA calls you heroes", referred to the racial tensions in the area.
Results were still outstanding in at least six wards in the municipality, but the ANC was lagging significantly with just over 31% of the ballots going in their favour.
In the Eastern Cape, the DA message seems to have been well received in the Kouga municipality.
With 100% of the voting complete in the municipality, the DA is in the lead with 53.5%
DA leader John Steenhuisen held an impromptu briefing at the Results Operation Centre to confirm the news.
“As you know we run a separate tally as well, where we make projections and my team has given me excellent news that the DA has retained Kouga municipality at the Eastern Cape. We are going to go in there with 16 seats for DA, 11 for ANC, 1 for VF Plus, 1 for the PA and 1 for EFF.
“This is a very important municipality for us, it is a testimony to the DA work over the last five years and we will continue to govern there for the next 5 years. It’s a huge vote of confidence and we are very, very proud.”
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