ANC Concedes Local Election Defeat In Key S.Africa City

JOHANNESBURG,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Augst,2016) - South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) conceded defeat Friday in the city of Port Elizabeth as local election results underlined the declining popularity of the party that led the anti-apartheid struggle. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) won Port Elizabeth, an industrial city on the south coast, by about six percentage points, bringing it victory in a key battleground of the municipal election. With almost all votes counted in Port Elizabeth, the DA -- on 47 percent -- did not win an outright majority and will seek to build a coalition alliance with smaller parties.

"We accept that we have lost (Port Elizabeth)," said Jackson Mthembu, ANC chief whip in parliament, ahead of final results for the other hotly-contested cities of Johannesburg, the economic hub, and Pretoria, the capital. "We know it's a tight race but I can assure you that we will emerge victorious in Tshwane (Pretoria), we will emerge victorious in Johannesburg," he added.