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By-elections reveal voter sentiment: DA defeated by MK in eThekwini ward, but holds ground in Randfontein

By-elections reveal voter sentiment: DA defeated by MK in eThekwini ward, but holds ground in Randfontein
Wayne Sussman
By Wayne Sussman
17 Apr 2025
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uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) achieved an historic win on a rainy day in Durban when they won their first ever metro by-election, beating the Democratic Alliance (DA) by 22 votes and taking a competitive seat off the DA. The DA were able to retain a seat in Randfontein in Rand West City in Gauteng.

Ward 110 (Mount Moriah Sunningdale), eThekwini: MK 39% DA 39% (44%) ANC 15% (38%) Ind-Delaney 7% EFF <1% (7%) 1860NIC <1% NFP (<1%) <1%


The setting: Ward 110 crosses the N2 national road and includes parts of Durban North, Phoenix and KwaMashu. The DA stronghold is around Durban North in the suburbs of Sunningdale, Glen Hills, Glen Anil and Rinaldo Park. The most-populous voting district in the ward is around Mount Moriah. This is a historic ANC stronghold which swung heavily towards the MK party in the last election. Mount Royal, also traditionally an ANC district, landed in the MK column in 2024. Both districts are part of KwaMashu. There is also a district in Rainham, a part of Phoenix, an area usually carried by the DA. It is also the most competitive district. 

The 2021 local government election: The DA beat the ANC by 530 votes. Key to the DA’s win was the margin of 1,759 votes in Sunningdale. Turnout was higher than in any other voting district. The DA also beat the ANC by more than 1,000 votes in the Rinaldo Park voting district, and won in Rainham by 364. This was the only district where three parties got into double percentage figures.

The ANC beat the DA by just under 1,700 votes at Mount Moriah. The EFF came second in this district. The challenge for the ANC in this district was that it was below the poll average, with only 44% of registered voters showing up. The party won 86% of the vote at Mount Royal. The margin between the ANC and the DA was 976 votes. Turnout was below the poll average here, with only 43% of registered voters showing up. 

ActionSA was fourth in the ward with 4%, finishing behind the EFF. It did best in Sunningdale and Rinaldo Park. 

The 2024 provincial election: The DA won 44% of the vote, the same return as 2021. MK was the DA’s main rival, bagging 35%. The ANC finished a distant third with only 10%, losing more than 75% of its support compared with 2019. The IFP came fourth with 4%, while the EFF lost 80% of its support in the ward to finish on 2%. 

The DAs first place was again built on big majorities in Sunningdale and Rinaldo Park. It won 84% of the support in vote-rich Sunningdale and just missed the 80% mark in Rinaldo Park. As per the party’s 2021 return in Rainham it won 55% of the vote there. 

MK really hurt the ANC in the two KwaMashu voting districts. At Mount Royal, the ANC fell from 74% to 18% as MK took 75%. MK also hurt the IFP which fell from 10% to 4% here, while the EFF shrunk from 11% to 2%. At Mount Moriah, MK took 66% of the vote, with the ANC falling from 69% to 22%. The IFP almost matched its 6% return from 2019, with 5%, while the EFF nosedived from 16% to 3%.

The turnout trend differed from 2021, with Rainham recording the highest turnout, followed by Rinaldo Park and Mount Royal. The two most-populous voting districts had the most subdued turnout, with only 57% of Mount Moriah voters turning out, 6% off the polling average of 63%.

The by-election: The DA ward councillor’s membership was terminated by his party. One of the people who led a petition for his ousting was Bronwynne Delaney, who threw her hat into the ring as an independent candidate. She was joined on the ballot by the DA, MK and the ANC. The EFF were also hoping to recoup lost support. 

There were three pivotal factors that resulted in the MK victory. 

In Mt Royal in KwaMashu, MK went past the 80% mark as they grew from 75% to 83%. The ANC came close to their 2024 result here getting 16%, down 2% points. Both the EFF and the DA won less than 1% of the vote here. Voters in Mt Royal were far more willing to brave the elements and come out for the MK than voters in the other voting districts. Turnout here was 46%, far above the polling average of 34%. MK beat the DA by 1,114 votes here and the ANC by 795 votes. 

In the vote-rich, traditional DA stronghold of Sunningdale, the DA were unable to breach the 80% mark from the 2024 provincial election as independent candidate Delaney obtained an impressive 25% of the vote in this district. The DA declined from 84% to 73%. Turnout in Sunningdale was the second lowest in the ward with only 33% of voters coming out. 

The third key factor was the very low turnout in Rainham, Phoenix. Only 18% of voters came out to vote. While both the DA and MK grew, with the DA jumping from 55% to 71%, and MK making small crucial gains from 19% to 24%. The low turnout would have hurt the DA more than MK. 

In Mount Moriah, MK came first with 62% of the vote, four percentage points down from the provincial election. The ANC grew from 22% to 36%, when compared with the 2024 poll. Turnout was only 33% in Mount Moriah. 

The DA grew from 78% in 2024 to 88% in the Rinaldo Park/Glen Anil voting district. MK receded from 10% to 4% here to finish just behind the ANC. Delaney came fourth here with 2% of the vote. 

MK now have a ward councillor in eThekwini. They will join 15 other parties and one independent councillor in the chamber who also have one seat. This current single seat party in eThekwini is certainly different to all the others. 

Poll: 34% (46%)

Ward 6 (Randfontein Greenhills) Rand West City, West Rand: DA 71% (83%) ANC 22% (14%) EFF 4% (3%) FF+ 3% AAAIC 0


The setting: Greenhills is a suburb close to the town centre of Randfontein, and the seat of power is Rand West City. Rand West City is centred on Randfontein, Bekkersdal and Westonaria. Famous Randfontein sons are soccer player Patrick “Ace” Ntsoelengoe and photographer David Goldblatt. 

The 2024 by-election: The DA won here by a landslide. Its task was made simpler when its main rival in the ward, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), sat out the by-election. 

The 2024 provincial election: The DA won 66% of the vote, followed by the ANC on 11%, while the EFF beat the FF+ for third place with 7%. The FF+ won 5%. 

The ANC came first in Rand West City with 43% of the vote, just more than double the DA’s second-place tally of 21%. The ANC was down 12%, while the DA crept up by one percentage point. The EFF was third with 15%, a touch down from its 16% return in 2019. MK hurt the ANC here with its 8%. The FF+ finished behind the PA and ActionSA with 2% of the vote. It fell from 4% in 2019. 

The 2025 by-election: The new ward councillor died following an illness after only holding the seat for nine months. The FF+ decided to run in the by-election. 

The DA easily retained the ward but were down from their 2024 by-election returns. The party that caused the fall was not the FF+ but the ANC. The ANC did well at Laer Skool Randfontein, a voting district in the Homelake area close to the central business district of the town. The ANC almost doubled its percentage vote share from 21% to 38% while the DA dropped from 73% to 47%. In Greenhills, the DA held up much better, dipping from 88% to 84%. The FF+’s 3% was the main beneficiary here of the DA’s small drop. While the DA were down from their 2024 by-election showing, they were still 1% up from 2021. The ANC will be happy with their solid second-place finish in this Rand West City ward. 

Poll: 27% (21%)

The next by-election will be on 30 April when MK will hope to win another ward off the ANC in the iLembe district of KwaZulu-Natal in the Mandeni municipality. The by-election is taking place because of the assassination of the ward councillor. The ANC won this ward by a landslide in 2021. There was a huge swing to MK in 2024. DM

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