The leader of the DA in the province and member of parliament, Leon Basson, tells OFM News they have made significant progress in winning some wards - especially ward 29 in Madibeng - from the ANC. 

The lush areas of Brits and Hartebeespoort Dam fall under Madibeng. 

The party also retained control of a ward in the Potchefstroom-headquartered JB Marks Local Municipality which they had previously lost to the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus). Basson says some voting stations had long queues as a result of ballot boxes not being delivered in time or due to machines not working properly.

He makes specific mention of Lichtenburg and surrounding areas, as well as Klerksdorp and voting stations in the Madibeng Local Municipality. He says the IEC’s current system needs to be relooked and is of the view that the Commission was not as ready for these elections as previously.

Attempts to get the North West IEC to comment on the issues that occurred on election day remain unanswered. Whilst the votes are still trickling in much slower than in other central South Africa provinces, by early Wednesday morning the ANC has 101 council seats, the DA has 15, followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 14, and the well-performing FF Plus with 6 seats. Just before midnight on Tuesday, less than 40% of votes had been counted in the North West.

When compared to the Northern Cape and the Free State, with respect to counting, the North West lags behind quite significantly. 

At the time of publishing, the Northern Cape stood at 89% of votes counted. The ANC in the North West is sitting with 54,49% of support.

OFM News