The African National Congress (ANC) has retained two seats in the Gauteng and Western Cape during by-elections, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa said on Thursday.

The by-elections were held on Wednesday.

”The ANC retained the seat in ward 59, Ekurhuleni that it won in the 2016 municipal elections, however, with a reduced margin of 65.86 percent of the votes cast compared to 75.57 percent in the 2016 municipal elections. Voter turnout yesterday was 32.71 percent,” the IEC said.

Cape Town’s ward 93 also remained with the ANC, but with a reduced margin of 69.98 percent of votes cast compared to 82.27 percent in the 2016 local elections.

Voter turnout yesterday was 34.73 percent.

ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa welcomed the by-election outcome.

”To honour the support of the people and their continued confidence in the people’s movement, we urge the local ANC leadership in those wards to work closely with the communities to ensure service delivery,” said Kodwa.

”This victory is a clear indication that our efforts of restoring the people’s confidence in the movement and reclaiming lost ground in the metropolitan municipalities is slowly but surely yielding the much-needed results.”