Mangaung, Free State

The Free State capital is the “Northern Cape” equivalent of South Africa’s eight metros. It is the largest area by size, but the least populated. It is 3,588km2 bigger than the next-largest metro – Tshwane – and has about 30,000 fewer people than the second-least populated metro – Buffalo City. Most people live in Bloemfontein and Botshabelo. However, the land size suggests that this metro incorporates large swathes of farmland, dorps and villages. It runs from Soutpan north of Bloemfontein, and also includes little towns southeast of Bloemfontein near the border of Lesotho like Wepener and Van Stadensrus. Dewetsdorp also falls in Mangaung. 

The Free State has only had one by-election since the 2021 local government elections. In that election the EFF shocked the ANC in Fateng Tse Ntsho, next to Paul Roux. We jump from a rural outpost into a municipality which might account for the lowest number of metro voters in South Africa but has by far the most voters in the province. 

This was one of two metros where the ANC won an outright majority in 2021. It won 51 out of 101 seats and won almost double the number of seats compared with its nearest rival, the DA, which won 26. The EFF was third with 12 seats and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) won five.

We move from a solitary by-election to four by-elections in one metro on the same day. The reason for four in one day is because the ANC expelled eight councillors from the party for aiding the election of a DA speaker in the Mangaung metro. Four of them were ward councillors, so by-elections were needed for those four ward vacancies. The ANC could replace the four proportional representation (PR) councillors who were expelled. This means that, going into the by-election, the ANC had 47 councillors out of 101. It needed to retain all four seats in the by-elections and return to its 51-seat allocation to retain an outright majority in council. This would allow the acting mayor from the ANC, Gregory Nthatisi, to consolidate his power and concentrate on executing his mandate. This would also give the party the opportunity to vote out the DA speaker of Mangaung, Maryke Davies, and elect someone from the ANC benches. 

The expelled ANC ward councillors all ran as independents, under the loose formation of the Mangaung 7 (M7). The ANC retained all four seats. The independents only featured in two of the four wards, while the EFF gave the ruling party a scare in Thaba Nchu. The ANC now has 51/101 councillors again and will ensure the DA speaker gets voted out and put an ANC speaker in her place. 

Ward 7 (Freedom Square Rocklands) in Mangaung: ANC 54% (75%) Ind-Rampai (Incumbent) 33% EFF 9% (12%) DA 3% (4%) AACUM 1% PROGRESS <1%

The setting: Ward 7 is made up of

 southeast of the city centre of Bloemfontein. It includes Freedom Square, Rocklands, Turflaagte and the Bophelong area. 

The 2021 local government elections: Of the four wards being contested, this is where the ANC did best in 2021. The party received between 70% and 84% in the seven respective voting districts. The EFF came second in each of those districts. 

The by-election: Chabeli Rampai ran as an independent to try to win back the ward he won in 2021. A new party, Progress, was also on the ballot. 

The ANC might have lost ground here but still retained Ward 7 by a wide margin, winning six of the seven voting districts. Rampai won the other district, winning the most historically dominant ANC voting district – the Presbyterian Church in Turflaagte. In 2021, the ANC won 84% of the vote, but this fell to 33% as Rampai received 56% in the district. The ANC lost chunks of support to Rampai in all the districts, but it was less pronounced than in Turflaagte. 

The ANC will note that the EFF and the DA too lost ground in Ward 7. 

Poll: 34% (37%)

Ward 29 (Botshabelo J, K): ANC 57% (73%) Ind-Mokoakoa (Incumbent) 21% EFF 17% (18%) DA 3% (5%) Ind-Mothekhe 1% AACUM <1%

The setting: Botshabelo is east of Bloemfontein, just off the N8 national road, which links Bloemfontein with Ladybrand and Maseru. Ward 29 is the northern section of Botshabelo. 

The 2021 local government elections: The ANC won all five voting districts by a landslide, obtaining between 71% and 75% of the vote in all of them. The EFF was second in all five. 

The by-election: Mpho Mokoakoa ran as an independent to try to win back his seat. There was a second independent candidate on the ballot.

A man casts his vote at Heidedal Primary School in Borcherds, George on 19 July 2023. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

The ANC swept every district in retaining Ward 29. While the party was affected by Mokoakoa in every district, it still won by a wide margin. It will also be satisfied that the EFF and the DA too lost some ground in this Botshabelo ward. 

Mokoakoa did best at Selokisa Primary School in Botshabelo where he obtained 33% of the vote. Here the ANC fell from 72% to 41%, with the EFF making some inroads, growing from 17% to 20%. 

Poll: 41% (38%)

Ward 49 (Thaba Nchu Selosesha 7) Mangaung: ANC 41% (59%) EFF 39% (28%) DA 8% (5%) Ind-Moqolo (Incumbent) 6% LLB 3% UCDP 1% (3%) IFP 1% AACUM 1% PROGRESS <1%

The setting: Thaba Nchu used to be part of the Bophuthatswana homeland. It was a predominantly Setswana area. Thaba Nchu is off the N8 national road between Botshabelo and Ladybrand and Maseru. Ward 49 is on the eastern side of Thaba Nchu. It also includes Selosesha which is northeast of the centre of Thaba Nchu. 

The 2021 local government elections: This was the closest of the four wards. The ANC won less than 60% of the vote here as the EFF made inroads. The ANC still received more than double the number of EFF votes. 

The by-election: Nine candidates vied for this ward councillor position, including former ward councillor Lehlohonolo Moqolo. The United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) was hoping to appeal to the Setswana voters, while the IFP was testing the Free State waters. 

The ANC was run very close by the EFF in Thaba Nchu. It beat the red berets by 86 votes. The former ward councillor did not feature in this by-election as the DA finished in third place. The four voting districts were split equally between the parties. Refentse Primary School in Selosesha 7 proved critical for the ANC. This is the most vote-rich part of the ward. While the party’s percentage vote share declined from 65% to 52% and the EFF grew from 25% to 36%, the 172-vote margin for the ANC was significant in this contest. The EFF could not make up those votes elsewhere. 

The EFF won the two Thaba Nchu districts off the ANC. At Phetogane Primary School, the party won 35% of the vote, up from 30% in 2021. The ANC fell sharply from 59% to 30%. The DA more than tripled its support at Phetogane Primary, winning 17%, well up from 5% in 2021. Former ward councillor Moqolo only managed 6% in this district. At the Methodist Church the EFF leapt from 28% to 46%, with the ANC receding from 54% to 31%. Local party Lentswe La Batho came third in this district with 9%. Moqolo only garnered 4%. 

The ANC will be concerned by the growth of the EFF and to some extent the DA in this ward. 

Poll: 43% (37%)

Ward 50 (Wepener Van Stadensrus) in Mangaung: ANC 64%  (65%) EFF 23% (18%) DA 7% (10%) Ind-Lelala (Incumbent) 6% IFP <1% AACUM <1% 

The setting: Van Stadensrus is more than 130km from Bloemfontein and Wepener more than 100km. There are no bright lights or towering buildings in these two small towns. This ward has 17 voting districts. More than 70% of the voters are in Wepener and the township next to it. Van Stadensrus has just upwards of 15% of the voters, with the balance coming from farms and rural areas in the ward. The ward has not one but two large dams in it, reinforcing its rural character. The Brakvly voting district could well be the most sparsely populated metro voting district in the country. It only has 37 registered voters. 

The 2021 local government elections: Of the four wards, this is the only one where the ANC did not win every single voting district. It won 13 of the 17 voting districts, with the DA winning three. In a unique outcome, the DA and the EFF tied for first place in a small voting district near Van Stadensrus. The ANC came close to winning two-thirds of the vote in the ward. 

The by-election: Makoa Lelala, the former ward councillor, was one of the seven candidates in this by-election. The ANC romped home in Ward 50. Lelala faded away to finish fourth.

In Wepener town, the ANC grew from 52% to 55%, with the DA falling from 25% to 22%. The EFF doubled its support from 9% to 18%. Qibing in Wepener has three voting districts and accounts for more than 40% of the ward. Here the ANC’s vote share declined from 70% to 83% in 2021 to 60% to 71%. The EFF won 31% of the vote in the Ikageng Creche voting district, up from 20% in 2021. Lelala affected the ANC at the Rose Day Care Centre district in Qibing, winning 13%. It was these two specific results that affected the ANC in Qibing.

The ANC grew in Thapelong in Van Stadensrus, moving from 64% to 74%.

Ten of the voting districts are rural and scattered around the farms. They only accounted for 7% of the ward vote in this by-election. The EFF won seven of these districts on Wednesday and tied with the ANC in one. The ANC carried the other two districts. 

The DA battled to get its supporters and FF+ supporters to the polls in this by-election. It will have to reconnect with its voters in Ward 50 before the 2024 election. 

Poll: 49% (43%)

George, Garden Route District, Western Cape

The setting: George is the third-largest municipality in the Western Cape, and the largest town and municipality in the Garden Route District. This district includes Mossel Bay, Knysna, Oudtshoorn and Plettenberg Bay. 

The 2021 local government elections: The DA lost its outright majority in George. The size of the George council grew from 52 to 55 seats. The DA won 26 and lost one. The ANC finished second but lost significant ground, declining from 17 seats to 10. GOOD made a big impact, winning six seats to finish third, having gone into the election with only one seat in the council. GOOD’s haul included three ward seats. These are the party’s only ward councillors in South Africa. A local party, Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI), finished fourth with five seats, well up from the two it won in 2021. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) won a single seat.

The DA formed a coalition with the FF+, which won four seats. The coalition had 30/55 seats. 

The by-elections: The three GOOD ward councillors defected to the DA. There was some consternation when Richard Hector, a two-term ward councillor for GOOD, reneged on his decision and rejoined the party. GOOD tried to get the Electoral Commission (IEC) to declare the seat filled and not vacant. The IEC stood by its decision since Hector had resigned from the council. The two other ward councillors were chosen as the DA’s ward candidates in wards 16 and 20. The DA came close to a repeat of what happened in the recent Ennerdale, Johannesburg by-election where its candidate abandoned the by-election and stood down. The replacement candidate for Hector also stood down after throwing his name in the hat. The DA was able to replace him at the 11th hour and was hoping for third time lucky for its Ward 27 candidate.

Read more in Daily Maverick: George by-elections go ahead despite community conflict, claims of voter fraud, court losses and rain

Wards 16 and 27 were genuine four-horse races on paper, with GOOD, the DA, the PA and PBI all having realistic paths to victory. Ward 20 had five horses with a chance of victory, with the ANC also in the mix. 

GOOD raised serious concerns about the DA fraudulently registering voters in wards 16 and 20. GOOD went to the electoral court to postpone the election but its application was dismissed. The PA also raised concerns about fraudulent voter registrations. The DA rejected the allegations by the opposing parties. 

The DA won two of the three GOOD wards in the by-election, with the PA making another breakthrough in the Western Cape, winning its first ward in the Garden Route district. Two of the three wards were close contests. The wins for the DA means the party now has an outright majority in George. The losses for GOOD mean it falls from the third-largest party in the council to the fifth-largest party. GOOD no longer has any ward councillors in South Africa. 

The new George council composition is DA 28 (26) ANC 10 PBI 5 FF+ 4 GOOD 3 (6) PA 2 (1) EFF 2 ACDP 1-Total 55. 

The DA is expected to still honour its coalition agreement with the FF+. 

The PA’s ward gain and all-round performance suggest the party’s recent strong account in the Western Cape is anything but fleeting and the party will be a significant player in the 2024 Western Cape elections. 

Ward 16 (New Dawn Park) George in Garden Route: DA 46% (25%) PA 22% (6%)  GOOD 15% (39%) PBI 15 (23%) ANC 1% (3%) EFF 1% (1%) ARA <1% (<1%)

The setting: New Dawn Park is the eastern part of Pacaltsdorp. It is south of the George town centre, below the N2 national road. 

The local government elections: GOOD beat the DA by 285 votes. It was a close contest between GOOD, the DA and PBI. 

The by-election: Theresa Jeyi, the incumbent and former GOOD councillor, stood again in the ward, this time for the DA. The PBI candidate was a former DA councillor. GOOD’s candidate opened a case of assault against the DA. The PA fielded a young candidate, hoping to appeal to new voters in the ward. 

Jeyi retained her seat with a 512-vote margin between her and the next-best party, the PA. This was the least competitive of the three George wards. The PA jumped from fourth place to runner-up with 22%. GOOD went from first to third, edging out the PBI.

Poll: 44% (46%)

Ward 20 (Borcherds) in George, Garden Route: PA 26% (1%) DA (Incumbent) 23% (20%) ANC 22% (23%) PBI 21% (23%) GOOD 6% (27%) EFF 2% (2%) ARA <1% (1%) 

The setting: Borcherds is south of the George town centre and sits above the N2. The ward includes the Steinhoff Industrial Park. 

The local government elections: GOOD beat PBI by 74 votes in a very close contest. The ANC finished just behind PBI, with the DA fourth, 115 votes behind GOOD. 

This ward has two voting districts. The ANC won the Heidedal Primary School district, finishing 67 votes ahead of PBI. GOOD was third and the DA fourth. Heidedal contains 70% of the ward’s registered voters. It did, however, have a lower turnout than the other voting district in the ward. Only 44% of the registered voters here turned out, while 53% turned up at the Youth For Christ Kids Stop voting district. The higher differential turnout and GOOD’s strong showing was key in GOOD finishing top in ward 20. GOOD beat the DA by 96 votes in this district. It also beat PBI by 100 votes here and the ANC by 143. 

The by-election: GOOD ward councillor Neville Louw defected to the DA, and stood for his old seat again. PBI fielded a celebrity candidate in former Eagles rugby coach and try-scoring machine Darryl Coeries. GOOD fielded a PR councillor. The PA fielded a well-known local pastor. The ANC’s candidate, a housing activist, is known for advocating for better living conditions for the backyard dwellers in this ward. 

The PA surged to victory in this five-horse race. It was expected that the party who was going to win the ward would do so with less than 30%. The PA was the only party to win more than a quarter of the vote. It only got 1% in 2021, but fast forward 21 months later and it has a ward councillor in Ward 20. It is a stunning result. The DA finished second after coming fourth in 2021. The ANC finished third again. GOOD fell from first position to a distant fifth.

The PA won the Heidedal primary school district. It edged the ANC by 19 votes and beat the DA by 177. The DA could not better its fourth-place finish in this district, as PBI finished third after coming second in 2021. 

The DA won the Youth for Christ Kids Stop district, getting the same percentage as GOOD did in 2021 – 38%. The DA beat the PA by 120 votes. The PA finished just ahead of PBI in this district. 

The PA received 57 more votes than the DA. There was no turnout differential as both districts had a 58% turnout. 

Poll: 58% (46%)

Ward 27 (Pacaltsdorp) in George, Garden Route: DA 36% (30%) GOOD (Incumbent) 26% (36%) PBI 19% (25%) PA 18% (6%) EFF 2% (<1%) ARA <1% (<1%)

The setting: Pacaltsdorp is south of the George town centre. It sits below the N2 national road. 

The 2021 local government elections: GOOD won here by 125 votes, taking both voting districts. It beat the DA by 10 percentage points at the Vincent Pallotti Catholic Church, which gave it a 92-vote buffer over the DA. PBI was third here and the PA a distant fourth. 

Borcherds is south of the George town centre and sits above the N2. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

It was much closer in the more populous VGK Pacaltsdorp voting district. GOOD beat PBI by 2 percentage points and the DA by 3 percentage points. It received 24 more votes than PBI and 33 more than the DA. 

The by-election: This was the ward where GOOD ward councillor Richard Hector defected to the DA and then decided to move back to GOOD and try to win Ward 27 for the third consecutive time. A PBI PR councillor defected to the DA and stood for the latter. This candidate was the last candidate put forward to the community as the DA had hiccups with the two prior candidates. PBI fielded a local activist. 

The DA won both voting districts in the ward to beat GOOD by 163 votes. The results across the two districts were similar for most of the parties. The DA won 36% in both districts. GOOD received 26% support in both voting districts. PBI did slightly better at the Vincent Pallotti Church voting district, while the PA had a marginal improvement at the VGK Pacaltsdorp district. The PA tripled its support in the ward. 

Poll: 36% (58%)

King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal

The King Cetshwayo District is in the north of the province and includes Richards Bay, Eshowe, Nkandla and Melmoth. The mayor of the district is IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli. 

Ward 6 (Ekuthuleni Nduro) Mthonjaneni in King Cetshwayo: IFP 63% (42%) ANC 33% (45%) Ind-Luthuli 2% EFF 2% (2%)

The setting: This is a rural ward south of Melmoth, the seat of Mthonjaneni. It includes the villages of Ekuthuleni, Nduro, Edubeni and Mehlamasha. It is off the R66 regional road which links Melmoth with Eshowe. The ward is near the Goedertrouw Dam. 

The 2021 local government election: The ANC prevailed by 55 votes in a very close contest. Sithembiso Khoza, an independent candidate, won 9% of the vote. This affected the IFP more than the ANC, and helped the ANC get over the line first. The IFP beat the ANC by 31 votes on the PR ballot. The ward has nine voting districts. Entembeni High School in Ekuthuleni was critical for the ANC. More than 25% of the voters cast their ballot at this polling station. The ANC beat the IFP here by 123 votes, a wide margin in an even ward. The IFP could not make up for this elsewhere. 

The by-election: The previous ward councillor resigned, citing safety concerns. The ANC, IFP and EFF were joined on the ballot by a former member of Parliament from the IFP breakaway party Nadeco (National Democratic Convention), Siphamandla Luthuli. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: IFP cleans up in KZN, ANC shows Eastern durability despite impressive PA showing

This is the third by-election in Mthonjaneni since the local government elections. The IFP took a ward off the ANC in 2022. While the ward changed hands, the result was extremely close. In another by-election the IFP retained its seat with both it and the ANC showing growth at the expense of the National Freedom Party (NFP). The IFP has an outright majority in Mthonjaneni and would have wanted to consolidate its control of the municipality. 

The IFP won this ward off the ANC and beat the ruling party by 30 percentage points. The IFP won every single voting district in the by-election. Ekuthuleni was key to the ANC’s narrow win in 2021, but it came unstuck here in the by-election. The result at Entembeni High School in Ekuthuleni was emblematic of how good this result was for the IFP. The ANC won here by 123 votes in 2021. In the by-election, the IFP won it by 183. It was a sharp swing to the IFP. The Nsengeni Creche in Ekuthuleni does not have that many voters, but the result here is important to consider. The IFP grew from 36% to 51% while the ANC fell from 57% to 36%. The Ekuthuleni Hall was a three-way tussle in 2021 between the ANC, the IFP and the independent candidate. The ANC pipped the IFP here on the PR ballot also in 2021. The IFP grew from 30% on the ward ballot to 76%, while the ANC shrunk from 38% to 21%. There is a fourth voting district in Ekuthuleni-Nogajuka Primary. The IFP beat the ANC by 14% percentage points in 2021. In the by-election, the IFP trounced the ANC by 57% points. 

 This victory means that the IFP now has 14/25 seats in Mthonjaneni. The new council composition is IFP 14 (13) ANC 8 (9) ACU 1 EFF 1 NFP 1. 

Poll: 58% (54%)

Ward 2 (Ntanyeni Ekuphiweni) Nkandla, King Cetshwayo: IFP 77% (75%PR*) ANC 21% (20%PR) EFF 2% (<1%PR)

The setting: This is a rural ward, northwest of the town of Nkandla, in the direction of Nqutu. It includes Ntanyeni, Ekuphiweni, emPhotolo and Bhacane. Ntanyeni is just below the Mangeni River. 

The 2021 local government elections: The IFP won by a landslide on both the ward and the PR ballot. The margin was closer on the ward ballot as an independent candidate won 12% of the vote, most of it from IFP voters. The IFP won all of the voting districts, with the only close contest in the voting district in emPhotolo. 

The by-election: The previous ward councillor resigned. This result was a somewhat unique outcome with all three parties improving on their previous showing. The IFP crept close to the 80% mark as it swept all the districts in this ward in a dominant performance. Its best growth was in emPhotolo, growing from 56% to 75%, while the ANC lost ground, falling from 41% to 25%. 

The ANC will be happy with its growth at the Bhuqwini School district in Ntanyeni where it climbed from 20% to 30%. Here the IFP held steady at 70%, just down from 71% in 2021. This is where most of the votes were cast in the by-election. 

Poll: 49% (51%)

North West

Ward 11 (Tlhabane) Rustenburg in Bojanala: ANC 62% (60% PR*) EFF 30% (23% PR) PA 4% TCM 3% (1%) ACDP  1% (5%) UCDP <1% (1%)   ARONA <1% (<1% PR)

The setting: Tlhabane is west of Rustenburg. It is just off the R104 regional road and sits between Rustenburg and the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Rustenburg is the most populous municipality in North West and falls in the Bojanala District which includes Brits, Hartbeespoort, Makapanstad and Moruleng. 

The 2021 local government elections: The ANC beat the EFF by a margin greater than two votes to one. The ANC swept all three voting districts on both the ward and the proportional ballots. An independent candidate hurt the EFF on the ward ballot. 

The ANC fell short of an outright majority for the second election in a row. However, the party did not lose any seats. It won 43 of the 90 seats. The EFF lost seven seats as it fell from 24 to 17. The Tsogang Civic Movement won seven to finish fourth. This is where a lot of EFF votes went. The DA came third with 13 seats. The FF+ replaced Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) as the fifth-largest party in Rustenburg with its three-seat haul. Six parties won a single seat and an independent councillor completed the field. 

The ANC formed a coalition with the African Independent Congress (AIC), the independent candidate and a local party, Arona. This gave the coalition 46/90 seats. 

The by-election: The previous councillor died after a long illness. The independent candidate who won 11% here in 2021 did not contest. Six parties put up candidates to try to knock the ANC off its Tlhabane perch. 

The ANC will be very happy with this showing in Rustenburg. It held firm and improved on its 2021 showing. At Rampa Primary School, the district with the most voters, the ANC went from 61% to 69% of the vote. The EFF all but matched its 2021 showing, but the ACDP collapsed from 6% to 1%. AIC voters seemed to have backed the ANC here with their party not being on the ballot. The EFF did well at the Tlhabane Stadium voting district. This was a large contributor to its growth in this by-election. It more than doubled its support in this district, from 21% to 45%, with the ANC declining from 63% to 52%. 

Local parties including the Tsogang Civic Movement and Arona failed to eat into the ANC’s big majority in the ward. The PA will also be happy that it beat these parties and others for third place. 

Poll: 34% (26%)

Ward 5 (Zola Pelandaba) Senqu in Joe Gqabi: ANC 70% (72% PR*) EFF 30% (10% PR)

The setting: This massive ward includes parts of Sterkspruit, the village of Zola and many farms around the Witteberg mountains near the border with Lesotho. Senqu also includes the towns of Barkly East and Lady Grey and the village of Rhodes. It forms part of the Joe Gqabi District which extends from Mount Fletcher to the Eastern Cape section of the Gariep Dam. The district borders the Free State and Lesotho. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: PA benefits from absent DA to trounce ANC in Joburg ward, but ruling party records crucial win over IFP in KZN

The 2021 local government elections: The ANC won here by a landslide in 2021. It won eight of the nine voting districts in the ward, with the FF+ taking a sparsely populated district. The ANC grew in this municipality in the last election. It won 25/34 seats in the municipality. There are two reasons for this: It is where the ANC’s star mayor, Nomvuyo Mposelwa, comes from. She won many accolades during her mayoral term. She is now the district mayor. Another factor was the collapse of the official opposition, the Sterkspruit Civic Association (SCA). The EFF also gained from the SCA’s poor showing, growing from one seat to four to become the new official opposition.

The by-election: The previous ward councillor died. Only the ANC and the EFF braved this winter by-election. 

The ANC won here by a large margin but will wonder why it could not grow in a by-election that only included two parties. The EFF tripled its percentage support in this ward. 

The EFF will be especially happy with its returns at the Sakhakhude School in Wittenberg, south of the Sterkspruit town centre, where it grew from 10% to 36%, and the ANC receding from 83% to 64%. The EFF also showed solid growth at the Mkunzayo School in Zola. The ANC went from 74% to 67% and the EFF moved from 19% to 33%. Both of these districts have relatively large voting populations in the ward. The ANC will be most happy with its 85% return at Pelandaba School in Pelandaba, slightly up from 83% in 2021. The EFF tripled its support here to get 15% of the vote. Despite the EFF’s gains, the ANC’s support was resolute here. 

The ANC won 100% of the vote in the sparsely populated Motkop farm district. The FF+ won this district in 2021. Only six votes were cast this time round. Six votes was an improvement from the Mosheshsford Country Club district in the Barkly East area where the ANC and EFF received zero votes. The only votes cast here were three spoilt ballots. At least the party agents and IEC officials saw some activity at Mosheshsford. At the New England farm voting district in the Barkly East region, no votes were cast the whole day. There was not even a single spoilt ballot. 

Poll: 38% (46%)

The next round of by-elections will be on 23 August when the DA will defend a safe seat in Johannesburg and the ANC will defend three safe seats in the Chris Hani district of the Eastern Cape. The ANC will defend a seat in Madibeng, North West. 

The proportional representation (PR) ballot result from the previous election gets used when it is a better indicator of support for a party in the ward.

This article was updated at 11.45am on 20 July 2023 to include results from Ward 6 in King Cetshwayo District.