South Africans voted on the basis of racial division.
That is the unambiguous message from DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga, who said the showing of the EFF and Freedom Front Plus proved the country was increasingly polarised.
The EFF and FF Plus are the only two major national parties that registered growth in all nine provinces compared to the 2014 elections.
“If we look nationally, there has been a challenge as far as how South Africans voted.
“We should see that people voted on the basis of a narrow nationalism.
“ We see the growth of an extreme left organisation like the EFF which appealed to the emotions of black people.
“On the right, we have seen the growth of an extreme right organisation, the Freedom Front Plus, which appealed to the emotions of whites.
“This is the biggest indication that South Africans should fear for the future.”
The ruling ANC claimed 68.74% of the Eastern Cape count. It was followed by the DA with 15.73% and the EFF with 7.84%.
The results mean the DA retains 10 seats in the provincial legislature, while the EFF grows from two seats to five.
“South Africans should open their eyes that we can’t go back to racial division. The most positive thing about these elections is that we have seen the decline of the ANC for the first time in our history,” Bhanga said.
The DA premier candidate is proud the party did not lose a seat in the legislature.
“We put up a strong campaign and DA supporters in the province understood our message of building one SA for all. We will not give up on that message.”
However, the fact that the EFF now holds half the number of seats the DA has in the provincial legislature suggests the party is starting to gain ground.
The EFF was already the official opposition in Limpopo and North West. It added a third province when it surpassed the DA in Mpumalanga.
Eastern Cape EFF chair Yazini Tetyana was elated.“We are happy with the confidence Eastern Cape people have shown in the EFF. From two seats in 2014 to five means we have more than doubled our numbers,” he said.“We want to fight corruption and bring services to our people. Our targets are the departments of health and education because we believe that is where most services fail.“We also want to focus on local government because most of the municipalities are dysfunctional.”UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the poor performance of his party, which saw it losing two seats nationally and two of four in the province, would force the UDM into some thorough introspection.The UDM, whose base is in the Eastern Cape, only achieved 2.6% of the vote, compared to the 6.16% it had in 2014. Nationally, the UDM garnered 1.64% at the polls.Despite some claims of vote rigging, Holomisa said they had themselves to blame.“We had some weakness during the election and vote counting. We lowered our guard and exposed ourselves to heavy blows, especially in the Eastern Cape.“That saw us losing two seats in the Eastern Cape and two seats nationally. But we are not out of the game; we’re still in the field,” said Holomisa said.Holomisa said the UDM needed an overhaul.“We must start from scratch, fight hard and do away with the rot – the plastic branches. You cannot have a successful conference with many delegates from branches attending, but then on election day only have one person voting for the UDM.“There is something fishy about our branches. We must revive the UDM by removing the rot from the branches.”..