By Lebone Rodah MosimaÂ
The DA is leading the Western Cape’s local government election count, while early results show gains for the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and declining support for smaller parties in some municipalities.
The PA has made significant gains in Prince Albert in the Central Karoo, finishing ahead of the DA after all nine voting districts had completed counting.
According to IEC results for Thursday morning, the PA secured 49% of the vote, followed by the DA on 37.2% and the ANC on 6.7%.
The result represents a substantial improvement for the PA, which finished third in the municipality in 2021 with 14.3% of the proportional representation vote.
In neighbouring Laingsburg, ActionSA emerged as the leading party with about 26% of the vote.
However, the picture was different in Kannaland, situated in the Little Karoo within the Garden Route District Municipality.
The Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) remained the leading party with 27.2% of ward-ballot votes, followed by the DA on 23.3% and the PA on 15.3%, according to IEC results.
Despite retaining first place, ICOSA suffered a substantial decline in support from the 45.2% it secured on the ward ballot in 2021, a fall of 18 percentage points.
Cape Town results remain crucial
The final provincial picture will depend heavily on results from the City of Cape Town, which accounts for a substantial proportion of the province’s electorate.
Eyewitness News reported on Thursday morning that only about 13% of the vote had been counted in Cape Town at that stage, with the metro accounting for roughly 70% of the province’s voting bloc.
The DA appeared to be retaining wards it previously controlled in the city, although counting was still at an early stage.
Official results expected on Sunday
The Electoral Commission (IEC) is expected to announce the final election results over the weekend, with Sunday, 8 November, being the anticipated date, although the timing remains subject to the resolution of outstanding objections.
The commission has set a deadline of 5pm on Friday, 6 November, for objections that could materially affect election outcomes.
Speaking at the national results operations centre on Thursday, IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi said that the commission could not declare the final results before the objection deadline had passed and that outstanding objections would have to be resolved.
The IEC is required to declare the election results within seven days of election day, although it intends to complete the process sooner.
All figures remain provisional until counting, verification and the objections process have been concluded and the IEC formally declares the results.
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