The Nelson Mandela Bay metro, which is considered one of the crown jewels of the Eastern Cape, is on a knife’s edge, following the municipal elections, with the ANC and DA in a neck-on-neck race to gain outright control of the metro. By early morning, it was clear that there would not be an outright winner in the metro. Both the ANC and DA had 38 council seats, scoring 39.4% and 39.9% respectively. So far, 98% of the vote has been counted.
When the dust settles at the Results Operating Centre in Tshwane and all the votes are counted, the FF Plus will leave with many more seats than it had on Monday. The party leadership should also expect to be courted as a coalition partner, after it ate into the DA’s support, particularly in the Western Cape.
Meanwhile: The Western Cape office of the IEC has said that vote counting in the Metro is at 80% verified.