Newer parties look to dismantle DA's majority rule in Cape Town
Like the DA, the ANC has also seen a steady decline in its support but is still likely to rack up support in its township strongholds.
Lindsay Dentlinger
FILE: A voting station sign during voter registration. Picture: EWN
EWN
While the DA is making a play for a majority in hung metro councils in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, it has everything to lose in Cape Town, as newer parties look to dismantle the DA’s majority rule of the past twenty years.
Its majority has been on a steady decline since 2016 in a city where the disparities between rich and poor remain stark, despite boasting the country’s lowest unemployment rate.
The DA's federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis is looking to be re-elected as mayor, having faced backlash during the campaign over the city’s lack of social housing, unequal services and plans to build a safety wall along the N2.
The DA first took charge of the City of Cape Town through a coalition with six other parties in 2006 until it was able to win an outright majority in 2011.
And while it’s unlikely it will cease to be the majority party in the city, the question is whether that majority will be enough to retain outright control of the council.
Like the DA, the ANC has also seen a steady decline in its support but is still likely to rack up support in its township strongholds.
The Patriotic Alliance and the National Coloured Congress will be looking to grow their representation attained in 2021, while ActionSA is fielding MP Dereleen James in attempts to make inroads in the city.
More than 148,000 votes are already captured in ballot boxes across the Western Cape following two days of special voting, despite the delayed delivery of ballots on Monday that kept early voters waiting for hours to cast their ballots.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said there’s no denying that a Constitutional Court ruling requiring the reprinting of 33 million ballots was a significant challenge for the Commission.
"Monday was bad for us in the City of Cape Town. I must say for the record, it is that city that has borne the brunt of it ultimately. We did not do that intentionally."
3.4 million voters are registered to vote in the Western Cape, with the Cape Town metro’s 116 wards making up the biggest share of the voting districts.