The EFF has received a major election boost following their victory against the ANC in North West, during the by-election held yesterday. The EFF councillor candidate Lehlohonolo Metoa won the election by 53 votes taking control of ward 3 Maquassi Hills, in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district, from the ANC.

The ANC had previously won the ward by 64% of the votes, but they were piped by the EFF to the ward by 47% during yesterday's by-election. In the previous election, the EFF had obtained 33% of the votes in the ward and the results show that the party improved its performance by 11%. The ANC's electoral fortunes declined to 44% and obtained 745 votes against the EFF's 798 votes. The election results show that the Patriotic Alliance, the party founded by ex-convicts Gayton MacKenzie and Kenny Kunene, obtained 158 votes equating to 9% of the votes. EFF said they were happy with the outcome of the by-elections and they advised their ward councillor that his job was now to restore dignity of the people of Tswelelang township.

The by-elections in Tswelelang township, known as Maquassi Hills, came after the death of the ANC ward councillor, who had won the ward during the 2021 local government elections. The ANC lost the ward due to a higher voter turnout from other sections of the Tswelelang township. The ruling party's staunch supporters were this time outnumbered at their usual voting station at Ragogang Primary school, where the party enjoyed the most support from the locals. Following the by-elections results, the Maquassi Hills council will now see the ANC with one less councillor moving from 13 representatives to 12, while the EFF will see their red beret brigades increase their number of representatives from four to five. Other political parties represented in the municipal council include the Democratic Alliance with two representatives, SA political Association, Freedom Front Plus and Forum 4 Service Delivery, who each have one representative. 

Meanwhile in Limpopo, the ANC has managed to retain ward 11 in Blouberg sub-region with a resounding performance of about 64.84% of the votes. The ANC outsmarted its usual competitors in the region, the EFF and ACDP party to the ward. The by-elections in the ward were also triggered by the death of the ANC ward councillor. The ANC had previously won the ward comfortably but now it had faced a serious challenge from the EFF and ACDP, which both performed quite convincingly.