A man fills in the voting forms before casting his vote at the IEC polling station in the St Hubert Catholic Church in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Picture: Chris Collingridge /file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/label-analysis-2.jpg)
Ward 15 (Cloetesville) Stellenbosch, Cape Winelands: PA 39% (3%), DA 31% (48%), Good 19% (22%), ANC 9% (7%), TRUTH <1%
The setting: Ward 15 is north of the Stellenbosch town centre, sandwiched between the R304 and R44 regional roads. The R304 links the town with Malmesbury, while the R44 links Stellenbosch with Klapmuts and Wellington. Cloetesville has produced brilliant wings including JP Pietersen, Eddie Fredericks and Dusty Noble.
The 2021 local government election: The Democratic Alliance (DA) won Ward 15 by a wide margin but was unable to win more than 50%. The Good party was second with more than 20%. The regional People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) was third with 8%, just ahead of the African National Congress (ANC) in fourth place. The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) also finished ahead of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) which finished seventh.
The 2024 provincial election: The DA came first with 54% when one considers the voting districts that make up Ward 15. The PA had a marked improvement to finish second with 23%, followed by the ANC on 10% and Good on 4%. The DA won 64% of the vote across Stellenbosch. The ANC was second with 16% and the PA third with 6%.
The by-election: Ward councillor Elsabe Vermeulen defected from the DA to the PA. She was also the PA candidate for the by-election and hoped to finish her term. The PA beat the DA by 177 votes, carrying both Cloetesville voting districts. The Cloetesville Primary School district was where the PA put significant distance between itself and the DA, winning the voting district by 154 votes.
Turnout was also higher here with 52% of registered voters showing up. The DA fall from 28 to 27 seats in the 45-seat council. The PA are now tied with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) as the fourth largest party in the council, with two seats. However, the PA are now only one of three parties with a ward councillor in Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch now joins Mossel Bay, Swartland (Malmesbury) and Drakenstein (Paarl) as recent examples of where the DA’s blue wall has been broken across the Western Cape by the PA.
Poll: 47% (43%)
Ward 25 (Uniondale) George, Garden Route: DA 43% (18%), PA 34% (<1%), ANC 14% (30%), EFF 9% (9%), TRUTH <1%
The setting: Ward 25 includes the town of Uniondale and extends to the Eastern Cape border. It is a large ward which includes three farming districts. Uniondale is northeast of George on the N9 national road to Willowmore and north of Knysna. Uniondale is a unique town best known for its legendary hitchhiker ghost tale. Springbok rugby Sevens player Dewald Human and author Dalene Matthee have roots in the town.
The 2021 local government election: The ANC beat the local Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI) by 202 votes to win Ward 25. PBI came second with 20% of the vote. The DA finished just behind PBI while Good came fourth with a gallant 17%. The EFF was fifth with 9% and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) sixth with 3%. The PA only garnered four votes here in 2021. The ANC won the Lyonville voting district in Uniondale, where more than 80% of registered voters in the ward cast their ballot. It also won one of the three farming districts. The DA won the other two.
The 2024 provincial ballot: The DA came first with 40%. It was able to win over Good and PBI voters in the ward. The ANC was second with 26%, while the PA was third with 16%. The PA was able to win over ANC, Good and PBI voters. The EFF took 13%. The PBI leader joined the EFF before the elections and the EFF brought some of that PBI support across. The FF+ was fourth with 3%.
The by-election: The ANC ward councillor, Jacques Esau, defected to the DA and was chosen to stand as the party’s candidate in the by-election. The PA fielded a local rugby referee as its candidate. The EFF was hoping that a large chunk of 2021 PBI voters would back the red berets here.
The DA put the brakes on a most impressive run by the PA where they had won four successive by-elections in George to win this Uniondale seat off the ANC. The DA beat the PA by 223 votes in the ward and swept all four voting districts, winning the three sparsely populated farming districts with relative ease. There was a very solid turnout of 62% of registered voters in the most densely populated district in the ward in Lyonville. The DA beat the PA here by 75 votes in a hard-fought contest. The ANC finished over 500 votes behind the DA in Lyonville, and in turn lost more than half its percentage support in the ward.
While the PA did not win the ward, they made a big mark in Uniondale and have clearly established themselves as the most likely alternative to the DA in the area. The EFF’s vote share held in the ward, but there was not much sign of former PBI voters making their way to the EFF. The DA and the PA were the two beneficiaries of PBI and Good not being on the ballot.
The new council composition in George is: DA 25 (24) ANC 9 (10) PA 6, PBI 5, FF+ 4, Good 3, EFF 2, ACDP 1. Total: 55 seats. The DA-FF+-ACDP ruling coalition now controls 30 of the 55 council seats. In theory, the DA and FF+ could elect to work without the ACDP in the municipality but are unlikely to do so.
Poll: 58% (57%)
The next round of by-elections will be on 13 May when the ANC will defend a safe seat in Orkney, Matlosana, North West, and the DA will face off against the ANC and the PA in a marginal seat in Upington in Dawid Kruiper, Northern Cape, and a local party will have its back against the wall as it faces the ANC and a new local party in Prieska, Siyathemba, also in the Northern Cape. DM