LGE results: 7 new political parties make debut in CoCT council
ActionSA has emerged as the best-performing among the newcomers, with 2.75% of the vote.
Lindsay Dentlinger
Politicians at the IEC’s Results Operations Centre in Midrand, where the final local government election results were announced. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN
Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN
Seven new parties will enter the Cape Town city council for the first time when it reconvenes after last week’s polls.
ActionSA has emerged as the best-performing among the newcomers, with 2.75% of the vote.
After its breakaway from the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) also enters the city council for the first time, with less than 1% of the vote.
Both the Democratic Independent Party (DIP) and the United Independent Movement (UIM) are out of the 2026 new look council, making way for other newcomers as the council expands from 17 parties to 22.
ActionSA gets seven seats in the 235-member council, followed by the SACP and the African Transformation Movement (ATM), which get two each.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, Build One South Africa (BOSA), People’s Movement for Change (PMC) and the Hopeful Leaders Democrats will each get a single seat as first-time entrants.
The SACP’s Western Cape provincial secretary, Benson Ngqentsu, said he’s pleased with the almost 21,000 votes it achieved in the city.
“Given the fact that we entered these elections without having a cent, with leaders of the SACP chased out where they are deployed by the ruthless and gang-related ANC leaders, the Communist Party did extraordinarily well.”
Overall, the SACP obtained seven seats in six Western Cape councils in its first showing in a local government election.
Smaller political parties, which have declined in their support in the City of Cape Town, include the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) losing three seats, Africa Restoration Alliance (ARA) and the Cape Independence Party (CAPEXIT) each losing one, and the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) losing two.