By Johnathan Paoli
ActionSA has pulled off a surprise victory on Robben Island, beating the ANC, DA, EFF and MK Party in a voting district where just 48 valid votes were cast during Wednesday’s local government elections.
The party secured 11 votes, representing 22.9% of the municipal proportional representation (PR) ballot, despite having conducted little campaigning on the island.
The result came as an unexpected boost for ActionSA, which was contesting its first local government elections in Cape Town.
“The fact that we weren’t really there, we didn’t campaign there, we literally did a quick pop in and out, to get that outcome, that speaks volumes,” ActionSA Cape Town mayoral candidate Dereleen James said.
The ANC finished second on the PR ballot with nine votes, followed by the EFF and MK Party with five each.
The DA and Patriotic Alliance (PA) secured four votes apiece, while the African Transformation Movement received three.
The Freedom Front Plus and United Democratic Front each received two votes, while the SACP, IFP and Al Jama-ah received one vote each.
ActionSA also topped the ward ballot on Robben Island, securing 10 of the 47 valid votes recorded, ahead of the ANC with nine and the EFF with eight.
Robben Island forms part of Ward 54, which includes the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs of Green Point, Sea Point and Fresnaye.
The DA retained the ward comfortably, securing 87.5% of the vote and winning six of its seven voting districts, according to Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results.
DA candidate Nicola Jowell won the ward with 8,998 votes, while ActionSA received just 86 votes, representing 0.8% of the ward total.
Despite its limited electoral significance, the Robben Island result marks a change in the island’s voting patterns.
The EFF secured the largest share of votes in the district during the 2021 local government elections, while the ANC finished first in 2016.
ActionSA Director of Strategy and Communications for its Cape Town mayoral campaign, Anslin Gysman, said the result was an unexpected achievement.
“We’ve just won a VD on Robben Island which is absolutely insane. I think Robben Island has 165 voters or registered voters and never in our wildest dreams did we actually think we’d take Robben Island. That was a beautiful gift from the political gods this morning,” Gysman said.
The island, where former president Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists were imprisoned, remains one of South Africa’s most significant historical landmarks.
James said winning the voting district was meaningful because of the island’s place in the country’s history.
“I am so inspired because we, too, can form part of the books of history,” she said.
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