The new DA ward councillor, Bradley Singh. Picture: Supplied
The ANC suffered one of its worst by-election defeats in uMhlanga, north of Durban - with the Democratic Alliance (DA) clinching over 90% of the votes to the ANC's 1.08% and ActionSA’s 7.88%.
Fresh from their landslide victory, the new DA ward councillor, Bradley Singh announced he would be taking legal action against ActionSA.
"I want to thank the public who voted for me and put their trust in the DA. They were not fooled by the gutter politics of ActionSA which ran a smear campaign against me. I was accused of being a thug and gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrator and I am going to take them to court. They tried to destroy my character and that cannot go unchallenged," Singh told IOL.
It was a stunning, clean sweep victory for the DA, a bruising defeat for the ANC and a thundering defeat for ActionSA which waged a hard-hitting campaign against Singh. In the end, voters chose the DA - the party which already has a stronghold in the affluent suburb.
Minutes after the announcement of his victory, just before midnight, Singh outlined his first priority in a call to IOL.
"I'm going to engage with the city immediately to ensure we don't have closed beaches this season. The storm water issues and infrastructure challenges must be resolved so that we get a tourism boost to the area. We need to get our beaches back to blue flag status. Things need to be fixed so we don’t have raw sewage going into our oceans," he said.
For ActionSA's Saul Basckin, it was a humiliating defeat, given his robust campaign. But, he accepted his loss graciously - with a subtle warning to Singh.
"I will continue to serve my community and that’s all I wanted to do from the beginning. I want what’s right for my community and that’s it! I wish Bradley Singh well and that he performs in the ward. Everybody will be watching," he told IOL.
But, for the ANC's Xolani Mabaso, the extent of the loss came as a shock. The party secured just 64 votes trailing behind the DA's 5,410 votes and ActionSA's 468 votes, making it the worst performer by a huge margin.
Mabaso was in disbelief and blamed it on the lack of turnout among ANC supporters.
"I'm disappointed, what can I say. But we soldier on towards 2026 local elections," he said, accepting his defeat.
IOL