DA confident of retaining Western Cape support, claims gains in townships
The DA is confident of retaining more than 50% in the Western Cape, with Federal Council Chairperson Ashor Sarupen claiming the party is making gains in townships and rural communities.
Kabous Le Roux
DA supporters gather at a campaign rally ahead of the 2026 local government elections, as the party expresses confidence in retaining its majority in the Western Cape and making gains in townships and rural communities. (Photo by Ilaria Finizio / AFP)
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is confident it will retain more than 50% of the vote in the Western Cape, and it claims to have made significant inroads into townships, informal settlements, and rural communities in the local government elections.
DA Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen said early results pointed to a strong provincial performance, but he cautioned that it was still too early to make definitive calls about individual municipalities.
Speaking on CapeTalk as votes continued to be counted, Sarupen said he was encouraged by what he had seen so far.
"The DA results for Western Cape, from what I've seen so far, look pretty strong," he said.
He predicted that the party would secure approximately 51% of the vote across the province, adding that he was confident about its performance in the City of Cape Town.
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DA claims gains beyond traditional support base
Sarupen said the party had made progress in communities beyond its traditional support base, including townships and rural areas.
He pointed to the Free State, where he said the DA was leading in the predominantly black, rural municipality of Kopanong.
He also claimed the party had made gains in townships in southern Gauteng, saying it had been winning support from the ANC in several local municipalities.
"We've made significant inroads into informal settlements, townships, rural villages, while hanging on to a significant portion of our traditional base. So, this is a realignment," Sarupen said.
He suggested the party could emerge with a larger share of support than the EFF in townships, rural villages and major informal settlements.
However, Sarupen cautioned against drawing firm conclusions while the counting process was still underway.
DA waiting for more results before making calls
Asked whether any Western Cape municipalities were ready to be declared, Sarupen said he had not seen sufficient results to make premature announcements.
He said some of the province's more rural municipalities were still waiting for all voting districts to be counted.
"I'm not yet ready to call this," he said, while reiterating his confidence in the DA's overall performance.
The comments came as early national projections from the CSIR, based on approximately 11% of voting districts counted, put the ANC at around 31% of the national vote, down from approximately 46%.
The DA was projected to be at around 26%.
Sarupen said he was looking forward to receiving more results before making further assessments about the party's performance and its next steps.