The African Independent Congress (AIC) is a minor political party in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Founded in

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape, Eastern Cape Province of Provinces of South Africa, South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 h ...

on 12 December 2005, the AIC was a protest against the location of the area within the boundaries of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

rather than

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

as a result of the 12th Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa put forward by the ANC government. The disputed boundary change went to court; it was eventually confirmed by the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa. The AIC won ten seats in the Matatiele municipality in the 2006 local government elections, seven in the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

elections, and one seat in the Eastern Cape provincial legislature in the 2009 elections. In the

2014 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 7 May 2014, to elect a new National Assembly of South Africa, National Assembly and new Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislatures in each province. It was the fifth election ...

, the AIC received 97,462 votes, 0.53% of the total, winning three seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. It retained its seat in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. The party did not run a candidate in seven of the nine provinces, and was thought to have only a small, regional base. Some analysts believe the party picked up mistaken votes due to its proximity on the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th cent ...

with, and close similarities to, the name and logo of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

. In the South African municipal elections of 2016, AIC support declined further in Matatiele, but it campaigned for the first time in many other municipalities, winning a total of 55 seats across eight of the nine provinces and 0.78% of votes. In March 2019, in the run-up to the 2019 general election, the party's national executive was dissolved by a court ruling, the aftermath of disputes between factions supporting the party's president Mandla Galo, and deputy president Lulama Ntshayisa, over credentials for the elective congress, which took place in August 2018. The party was left with R83 in its bank account due to the legal costs, leaving its participation in the national elections in doubt. In the 2019 general election, the AIC won 48,107 votes (0.28%) and two seats in the National Assembly, one fewer than in 2014; it did not win any seats in the provincial legislatures, so losing the one previously held in the Eastern Cape. In December 2019 following instability in the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (; ) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province and comprises the city of Gqeberha, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and De ...

council, covering

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

and surrounding areas, and after the deposition of mayors from the DA and UDM, Thsonono Buyeye of the AIC became acting executive mayor. The 2021 South African municipal elections saw the AIC win 43 council seats in seven provinces ( two in Matatiele) with 0.49% of the votes. In the

2024 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly (South Africa), National Assembly as well as the Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislature in each of the Provinces of South Africa, ...

, the AIC won 0.12% of the national vote, losing all of its seats in the National Assembly.

Ekurhuleni

AIC member Sivuyile Ngodwana was elected

mayor of Ekurhuleni The mayor of Ekurhuleni is the head of the local government of South Africa's City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, established in 2000. List of mayors of Ekurhuleni See also * City of Ekurhuleni elections References {{G ...

in March 2023. Ngodwana's election as mayor was part of an agreement between the

and

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...

whereby a councillor from a small party was elected as mayor or council speaker in order to take over various municipalities. The party won three of the 224 seats during the 2021 Ekurhuleni elections. Ngodwana was voted out in a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

on 28 March 2024.

Election results

National Assembly elections

, - ! Election ! Party leader ! Total votes ! Share of vote ! Seats ! +/– ! Government , - !

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, rowspan=3 , Mandla Galo , 97,642 , 0.53% , , New , , - !

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 48,107 , 0.28% , , 1 , , - !

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, 19,900 , 0.12% , , 2 ,

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 , Election ! colspan=2 ,

! colspan=2 , Free State ! colspan=2 ,

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

! colspan=2 ,

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

! colspan=2 ,

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

! colspan=2 ,

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

! colspan=2 , North-West ! colspan=2 ,

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

! colspan=2 ,

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

, - ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats , - !

, 0.77% , , 1/63 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0.31 , , 0/42 , - !

, 0.42 , , 0/63 , 0.45 , , 0/30 , 0.21 , , 0/73 , 0.26 , , 0/80 , 0.27 , , 0/49 , 0.36 , , 0/30 , 0.46 , , 0/33 , 0.55 , , 0/30 , 0.14 , , 0/42 , - !

, 0.22 , , 0/73 , , , , 0.11 , , 0/80 , 0.07 , , 0/80 , , , , , , , 0.25 , , 0/38 , , , , 0.08 , , 0/42

Municipal elections

, - ! Election ! Votes ! % , - !

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, 333,655 , 0.87% , - !

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, 146,693 , 0.48% , -

References

{{South African political parties 2005 establishments in South Africa Conservative parties in South Africa Eastern Cape Political parties established in 2005 Socially conservative parties African National Congress breakaway groups