MK Party claims early lead in KwaZulu-Natal
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party claims a lead in several KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, including 25 of Msunduzi’s 41 wards, as only 12% of provincial votes have been counted. South Africa’s electoral commission currently assigns five seats to the Democratic Alliance and four to the Inkatha Freedom Party.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party had won 11 ward seats in KwaZulu-Natal by Thursday morning, with 12% of the votes counted in South Africa’s 2026 municipal elections. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) was then allocating five seats to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and four to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), according to its results dashboard viewed by IOL.
The MK also claims 25 of the 41 wards in the Msunduzi municipality, as well as eight of Richmond’s nine wards and all the wards in Impendle. The party says it has won 11 of uMshwathi’s 14 wards, three of Mpofana’s six wards, five wards in Mkhambathini and one ward in uMngeni. These results remain provisional, as counting is still under way, IOL reports.
The contest could result in hung municipal councils, notably in eThekwini and Msunduzi, forcing parties to negotiate coalitions. Voting continues as counting remains under way at 546 voting stations in KwaZulu-Natal.
