Durban - KwaZulu-Natal remains firmly in the hands of the African National Congress, where it even managed to buck the trend by increasing its share of the vote in Wednesday's municipal elections.
The party picked up 57.48 percent of the vote in the province, which is a slight improvement on its performance of 56.79 percent in the 2011 local government elections.
The ANC even increased the actual number of votes it picked up, from 3.184 million to 3.728 million.
Its share of the vote in a number of municipalities increased, especially in places such as Newcastle, where it increased its share of the vote from 53.27 percent in 2011 to 61.2 percent.
In Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg), the KwaZulu-Natal capital, the ANC also grew its share of the vote slightly.
However, this is unlikely to result in an increased number of municipalities under its control, as in many of the municipalities it governed in coalition with the National Freedom Party - an Inkatha Freedom Party breakaway.
In 2011 the ANC had outright control of 28 municipalities and led in 41.
Subsequent negotiations saw it gain control of 20 more municipalities where it governed in coalition with the NFP.
