By Johnathan Paoli
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has secured its fourth consecutive by-election victory off the Democratic Alliance (DA) in George, capturing Ward 16 (New Dawn Park) in a decisive win that further reshapes the balance of power in the Western Cape municipality.
The PA won 65% of the vote, up 22 percentage points, while the DA slumped to 34%, down 12 points from its previous 46%.
The ANC and TRUTH each secured less than 1% of the vote.
GOOD and the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners or “Local Concerned Residents” (PBI), which previously polled 15% each in the ward, did not contest.
Voter turnout rose significantly to 52%, up from 44% in the previous contest.
The 65% vote share marks the PA’s highest percentage in George to date, surpassing even its two ward gains in January.
Naellowine Esau has been elected as the new PA councillor.
Reports indicate that the PA expanded its base by attracting former GOOD, PBI and ANC voters, mobilising residents who had abstained in the previous by-election, and making inroads into the DA’s support.
Said party leader Gayton McKenzie after the results were announced: “The PA is destroying the DA on the ground, the DA is beating us in the newsrooms and leads all the polls but on the ground, this is what is happening. This is the fourth Ward we are taking in George alone. Helen Zille ran [to Johannesburg as the DA’s mayoral candidate] just in time before the fall.”
The party celebrated the win on social media, saying: “Ward 16 didn’t whisper, it roared. 1 873 votes. A clear victory. A clear mandate. Congratulations to Cllr. Naellowine Esau. George is turning GREEN and there’s no turning back. From Ward 17 to 27, now 16, the momentum is real.”
The victory alters the composition of the 55-seat George council.
The DA drops to 24 seats (from 25), the PA increases to six (from five), while the ANC holds 10.
The PBI has five seats, the Freedom Front Plus four, GOOD three, the EFF two and the ACDP one.
The DA-led coalition with the FF+ and ACDP now holds 29 out of 55 seats; a reduced majority.
The PA’s growth has been particularly striking.
After the 2021 local government elections, it held just one seat in George.
It now holds six and has become the third-largest party in council.
Meanwhile, in KwaZulu-Natal, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) successfully defended Ward 13 (Hlanzeni Nkalokazi) in uMzumbe Municipality, Ugu District, retaining the seat with 43% of the vote, despite dropping seven percentage points from its previous 50%.
The ANC followed with 32% (down from 45%), while the MKP secured 16% and the NFP 8%. Turnout remained steady at 51%.
The ward had drawn national attention in 2024 when seven ANC councillors were suspended after voting with opposition parties to remove an ANC mayor. It was also the municipality where the MK Party won its first council seat during last year’s by-elections following an exodus of ANC councillors.
The Ward 13 by-election was triggered by the resignation of IFP councillor Siyabonga Doncabe, who defected to the MK Party and stood as its candidate.
IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa previously said the party remained confident of its base.
“The residents complained about then-IFP councillor Doncabe, that’s why the IFP instituted disciplinary processes against him. So, when he left before the conclusion of the disciplinary processes, for us, as the IFP, it was good riddance,” Hlengwa said.
The next round of by-elections is scheduled for 25 February.
Contests include a traditionally DA seat in Johannesburg’s Bryanston-Blairgowrie, an ANC ward in Ga-Mamphaka, Polokwane, and a NFP ward in Nongoma’s Mjiza area, where the IFP and MKP are expected to mount strong campaigns as the ANC seeks to regain ground.
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