The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) continued to gnaw into the African National Congress' (ANC's) electoral base in KwaZulu-Natal as it snatched another ward in the by-elections held on Wednesday.

The party wrestled Ward 6 of Mthonjaneni Local Municipality from the ANC while retaining Ward 2 in the Nkandla Local Municipality - former ANC president Jacob Zuma's backyard.  

Voters in the Mthonjaneni ward placed their faith in the IFP with 1 377 votes, followed by the ANC's 727, the Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF's) 45 and an independent candidate's 46 votes. 

"This astounding victory is a testament to the confidence the people of Mthonjaneni have shown in the IFP's ability to deliver services and uplift their communities," IFP KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Thami Ntuli said. 

He described the victory as "clear and decisive".

In Nkandla, the IFP bagged 1 363 votes to the ANC's 383.

"The IFP won both these highly contested by-elections despite numerous attempts by the ANC to sway the results through various tactics, including the use of government departments, to campaign for it via MECs and Cabinet members," Ntuli said.

He said the victories were a clear message to ANC MECs: Their affiliation with the party "no longer holds much value in the eyes of communities" in KwaZulu-Natal. 

"The people are now aware of the ANC's failed strategy and tactics of using government departments during by-elections, only to disappear once the by-elections are over." 

He said the by-elections indicated "waning support for the entire KwaZulu-Natal cabinet, as well as Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube".

Meanwhile, the ANC defeated an effort by a group of disgruntled former councillors, known as the Mangaung 7, who campaigned to wrest power from the governing party through a coalition in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State. 

From this group, four former ward councillors of the ANC registered as independent candidates after they were fired for voting with the Democratic Alliance (DA) to elect Maryke Davies as the Mangaung council speaker. 

The ANC retained all four seats in Mangaung, empowering its 51 councillors out of the 101 in council, to remove Davies. 

Meanwhile, the DA won two of the three by-elections in George, Western Cape, with the Patriotic Alliance (PA) winning one ward by 1 398 votes. 

The victory in George comes after a dispute between the DA and the GOOD party over claims of fraud.

However, the Electoral Court dismissed GOOD's application for the postponement of by-elections in George, where the party had alleged that the DA committed voter registration fraud. 

The ANC won the sole by-election in the Eastern Cape's Senqu Local Municipality by 787 votes.

It also won the only ward contested in North West by 1 225 votes. 

All in all, the ANC won six by-elections across the country; IFP bagged two wards; the DA also won two; the PA one; while the EFF and other contestants came out empty-handed.