With the 2024 general election marking the start of a new administrative term of office, political parties in the Eastern Cape are scrambling to place the best candidates to represent them in the National Assembly and the Bhisho legislature.
If the ANC provincial candidates list is anything to go by, ANC Women’s League provincial chair Ntandokazi Capa, who appears first on the IEC provincial list, is geared for a key role in the new administration.
However, that is if there is no rejigging of party lists submitted to the IEC.
Despite an increase in the number of seats in the legislature from 63 to 72, the ANC gained only one more seat, taking it to 45.
The seats are determined based on the population of each province and the representation by interested parties as per Section 105 (2) of the constitution, Act 108 of 1996, and item 3 (1) of schedule 3 to the Electoral Act.
The DA and UDM also gained a single seat each, moving to 10 and three, respectively.
The EFF increased its seats in the Eastern Cape by three, from five to eight.
The biggest winner in the provincial elections was the Patriotic Alliance with two seats and the MK Party, one seat.
Unfortunately for the FF+, the Afrikaner party lost the single seat it gained after the 2019 general elections.
For the national election, the ANC lost 71 seats and the EFF five.
Out of 400 seats in parliament, the ANC got 159 and the EFF 39 with, both parties losing support to newcomer, the MK Party, that got 58 seats in parliament — making it the third-biggest party in the country.
Of the 159 seats in parliament, provinces will send a combined 86 members and the Eastern Cape will contribute 16.
This means senior party leaders such as Phumulo Masualle who placed 17th on the ANC regional list, will not make the cut unless the party rejigs its list.
Meanwhile, minister for small business development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Zolile Burns-Ncamashe and Mncedisi Nontsele are almost guaranteed spots in the National Assembly as they made the top five candidates on the province to national list.
The DA maintained its position as the official opposition in the province receiving 14.62% of the votes cast.
DA provincial leader Andrew Whitfield is likely to retain his parliamentary seat as he made it to the top five of the party’s candidates list.
Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Renaldo Gouws looks set to go to parliament, securing the 70th spot.
The DA received 87 seats in the National Assembly.
Other DA councillors in the Bay, Retief Odendaal, Heinrich Muller, Malcolm Figg and Kabelo Mogatosi, are likely to head to Bhisho as MPLs.
Whitfield said national and provincial election results confirmed that the party was moving in the right direction, having increased its provincial support since the 2021 local government elections.
“After a decline in support since 2016, the DA has turned the corner and increased our votes from 226,000 in 2021 to more than 267,000 in 2024,” he said.
“We remain the second-biggest political party in the province and increased our seats in the provincial legislature by one to 11 MPLs.
“This was achieved in spite of the most fractured political landscape and the longest ballot paper in the history of SA elections.”
For the EFF, MPLs Nokuthula Mlokothi and Litha Zibula appear on all party lists and are likely to head to parliament, however, the final decision rests with the central command.
EFF provincial chair Zilindile Vena will once again lead the party at the legislature as he placed first in the party’s provincial list.
The party’s provincial secretary, Simthembile Madikizela, said the occupancy of seats was likely to go according to the candidate lists.
“But if there are any changes or readjustments to the lists, that will be the prerogative of the officials of the EFF nationally.
“If, for example, a leader was tasked with work during the election and did not deliver and got removed, that’s when they could be affected, but other than that there’s no other reason to change the lists unless the leadership sees fit to do so.”
Madikizela said their target was to obtain 15 seats which would have placed them at an advantage.
“While we are happy with the improvement of the party in the province, we feel we could’ve done more because we aimed for 15 seats,” he said.
“This would’ve meant we run the provincial government even though we would not have the majority, but 15 seats would allow us to get into government so we can implement change in society.”
PA premier candidate Tiphany Harmse and Mxolisi Buya are also heading to the legislature.
Meanwhile, MK Party provincial co-ordinator Mawande Ndakisa said the decision on who would go to parliament and the legislature was centralised at a national level.
However, Ndakisa said they could not really comment owing to the “irregularities” lodged with the IEC.
“We’ve cited and lodged objections with the IEC. There are quite a number of irregularities and we’ve never been taken seriously.
“We are so disappointed by how the process concluded.
“The IEC was not pressed for time, it had until Wednesday.
“The constitution gives the IEC seven days to conclude processing of objections but [it] instead overlooked those issues and declared the elections free and fair.
“Our objections, we believe, would totally change the scenario and picture you see.”
HeraldLIVE
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