Elections 2026 | MK Party wins its first KZN municipality, snatching former ANC stronghold

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has won outright control of Richmond Local Municipality, securing its first municipality in KwaZulu-Natal in its debut local government elections.

Final Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results show the MK Party won 56.27% of the vote and secured 10 of the council’s 17 seats.

A party requires nine seats for an outright majority in Richmond. The result means the MK Party will not need a coalition partner to elect the mayor, speaker and other office bearers.

All results in the municipality had been completed by Thursday afternoon.

The party received a combined 24,362 votes across the municipal ballots. It also won eight of Richmond’s nine wards, demonstrating that its victory extended beyond the proportional representation ballot.

Its strongest performance came in ward 7, where it secured 72.19% of the vote.

The party received 61.52% in ward 3, 60.37% in ward 4 and 61.1% in ward 9.

It also won ward 2 with 55.77%, ward 8 with 51.13% and ward 1 with 48.05%. It secured ward 5 with 44.11%.

The only ward in which the MK Party failed to secure a seat was ward 6, despite receiving 45.9% of the vote there.

ANC loses former stronghold

The result removes the ANC from a municipality it controlled comfortably after the 2021 local government elections.

The ANC won nine of Richmond’s then 14 council seats in 2021, giving it an outright majority. It secured six ward seats and three proportional representation seats.

The EFF held two seats, while the DA and IFP each had one. An independent councillor held the remaining seat.

The municipal boundary and ward configuration subsequently changed. Richmond now has nine wards and a 17-member council, compared with seven wards and 14 councillors after the previous election.

In 2021, the ANC received approximately 70% support across the ward and proportional ballots. Its displacement therefore represents a major transfer of political power to the MK Party.

Richmond falls under the uMgungundlovu District Municipality and includes predominantly rural communities surrounding Richmond town, south of Pietermaritzburg.

First test of municipal power

The victory gives the MK Party its first opportunity to govern a municipality directly.

The party was launched by former president Jacob Zuma in December 2023.

It emerged as KwaZulu-Natal’s largest party in the 2024 national and provincial elections, receiving 45.35% of the provincial vote. However, it was excluded from the provincial government when the IFP, ANC, DA and NFP formed a coalition.

Richmond now gives the party control of an executive municipal administration, its budget and the delivery of local services.

The result also shows the MK Party converting its 2024 national and provincial support into ward-level organisation. Winning eight of nine wards means its majority does not depend only on votes cast for its party list.

The MK Party was also leading in eNdumeni municipality when the Richmond result was completed, but it had not yet secured outright control there.

Its Richmond victory was therefore the party’s first confirmed municipal win in KwaZulu-Natal.

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