The African National Congress (ANC) in eThekwini has won Ward 71 in Chatsworth, snatching the ward that had been won by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the 2016 municipal elections.

Previn Asoka Vedan won the seat with 45.70% of the votes cast, compared to the 62.33% the DA won in the 2016 municipal elections, according to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).

The ward had become vacant after the resignation of the incumbent DA councillor, forcing a by-election.

The voter turnout in the by-election on Wednesday was 31.11%.

Vedan received 2 793 votes while the DA's Fatima Ismail got 2 325 votes.

ANC eThekwini's regional secretary Bheki Ntuli told News24 that their "victory" showed that the ANC was not only trusted by black communities.

'We are happy they voted for us'

"We would like to thank the Chatsworth community for voting for us in their numbers. This shows that the people, regardless of their race, still trusted the ANC in KZN because the majority of the population at Ward 71 are Indians. We are happy that they voted for us and got rid of the DA," said Ntuli.

He added that they were "absolutely sure" the ANC would grow and gain more support even in areas that were previously considered to be DA-controlled areas "such as the suburbs where coloureds, Indians and whites live".

Nicole Graham, DA eThekwini leader, said they were disappointed to lose the ward to the ANC.

"We need to look at different factors and go back to the drawing board to make certain improvements. However, there are a number of wards we still control in Chatsworth and we have a number of councillors allocated there.

"We are still going to do everything we can to ensure the people in those communities have the best possible service from the Democratic Alliance," she said.

In other by-election results, the DA's Henning Petrus Cornelius de Wet was now the new councillor in Ward 3 in the Umhlathuze municipality.

The party retained the seat it won in the 2016 municipal elections, with 67.84% of the votes cast, compared to 63.49% in the 2016 municipal elections. The voter turnout there was 26.64%.

Vacant seats, wards filled

The ward also became vacant when a DA councillor resigned.

Elsewhere, Inkatha Freedom Party's (IFP) Zipho Mthembeni Ndlovu retained the Ward 3 seat the party had won in the 2016 municipal elections in the Mthonjaneni municipality.

The seat became vacant after the death of the party's councillor.

Ndlovu won with 63.63% of the votes cast, compared to 55.90% in the 2016 municipal elections. The voter turnout was 46.07%.

In Mpumalanga, the ANC retained Ward 25 in the Steve Tshwete municipality.

Patrick Vusumuzi Malinga kept the seat his party had won in the 2016 municipal elections, with 69.54% of the votes cast, compared to 79.17% in the 2016 municipal elections.

The voter turnout was 34.29%. The ward became vacant after the death of an ANC councillor.