DA Drakenstein's challenge

Now that the #2016MunicipalElection is all done, the hard work starts.

One of the first tasks of newly constituted councils is electing the top officials – Executive Mayor, Deputy Executive Mayor, Speaker and who will act if the number one and two is unable to.

While we knew before we made our X who the Mayoral Candidates were, we could only speculate on the other positions. Many looked at the PR [Proportional Representation] list and viewed that as an indication. It is however not a prescribed guideline of how the executive should be chosen and that duty rest upon the majority caucus, guided by the local and provincial party political leadership.

This is widely a follow-up to Drakenstein’s surprises and disappointments. This piece is zooming in on the governing party in Drakenstein.

Despite the DA having a male Mayor-elect, majority of their caucus will be females. What makes it more interesting is that that more than half of the 26 wards the party won, was won by females: an indication that even the voter think the party has competent female leaders. The party also increased its support in the predominantly coloured areas. The above are all things the party cannot ignore.

Our eyes should be on how the new caucus approach gender equality. Only five of the former Executive Mayoral Committee members are returning to council. And only one of them is female. Thus safe to assume Wendy Philander will again be part of Mayco. Comparing to her colleagues she did exceptionally well in her first term in council and not only topped the DA Drakenstein PR list [considering the DA said they reserve the number one position for their Mayoral Candidates], but she also twice appeared on the DA’s Provincial List for the Western Cape Legislature, currently on number two.

One can thus assume she is DA’s most senior female leader in Drakenstein. It would thus be interesting to see if the party reckons she performed well and should she not be in the top 3 to explain why she was not considered. Having said this we can also safely assume the party would re-elect DA-stalwart Koos le Roux as Speaker. In his first term he oversee a council without any incidents and council meetings were calm and peaceful, with respect.

That is not the party’s only challenge, composition of the new Executive Mayoral Committee might also be a headache for Mayor-elect, Conrad Poole. 

Of the 26 councillors 19 are returning with 6 having experience of Mayco – one of them in a District council. As mentioned in Drakenstein Surprises it is a given that Linda Landu who defected from the ANC to the DA would be rewarded with a Mayco seat. 

Would be interesting to see what portfolio she is given. Before I get to my Mayco speculations – or ideal Mayco – I would first restructure the portfolio’s and align it to the needs of the community but also based on services the municipality should be providing.

I would structure the ten portfolios as:

Community Services	Housing & Rural Development
Utility Services	Social Development
Safety and Security	Economic Opportunities
Planning & Environmental Affairs	Corporate Services
Inter-Governmental Relations & Communications	Finances

Furthermore I would propose that committees be structured as:

+ Finance

+ Planning & Economic Development [Planning & Environmental Affairs, Economic Opportunities, Housing & Rural Development]

+ Corporate Affairs [Corporate Services, IGR & ICT]

+ Infrastructure Development [Utility Services]

+ Community Development [Community Services, Safety & Security, Social Development]

Because I don’t view Housing, Economic Opportunities and tourism as a service that is just delivered but one that needs constant planning and development I structure it under the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Committee.

My Executive speculation:

Portfolio	Speculation	Alternative
Community Service	Aidan Stowman	Eva Gouws
Utility Services	Reinhardt van Nieuwenhuyzen	N/a
Safety & Security	Rean Smuts	N/a
Planning & Environmental Affairs	Jako Matthee	Wilhelmina Smit
Housing & Rural Development	Wendy Philander	Rita Andreas
Social Development	Eva Gouws	Aidan Stowman
Economic Opportunities	Wilhelmina Smit	Jako Matthee
Corporate Services	Jo-Ann De Wet	N/a
Finance	Gert Combrink	N/a
IGR & Communication	Linda Landu	Wendy Philander

Speaker	Koos le Roux	Wendy Philander
Deputy Mayor	Wendy Philander	Koos le Roux
Chief Whip	Ben de Goede	Renier Koegelenberg

Drakenstein’s surprises and disappointments

#2016MunicipalElections had some surprises and disappointments. The Democratic Alliance not only became the first political party to win a consecutive local government election in Drakenstein, but also increased their vote with nearly 10%. It looks like the DA is copying part of its City of Cape Town performance in the second biggest municipality in the Western Cape.

While the DA increased their support in the Paarl East – coloured – area, especially Chicago, Amstelhof, Nederburg, Denneburg. It did not show any major increase in so-called “white-areas”. In Wellington the DA’s support took a dip in most of the wards. This could be due to the support the EFF, PDM, Freedom Front Plus, Federation of Democrats, ACDP and ICOSA received.  Smaller parties all increased their vote from 2011. Most notably is the PDM who gaining 1.01% from 2011’s 0.68%. ACDP gained 0.38% and the FF+ gained 0.35%.

The ANC managed to only get 23.59% of the vote. That is 7.23% less than the 30.83% in 2011 and will send the once governing party to the drawing board. The ANC’s support in the wards it managed to hold onto also took a dip of between 4 and 6%.

Another notable thing from the election is that former ANC councillor, Linda Landu – who defected from the ANC to the DA, months before the election – could not win Ward 12 as her new party might have hoped for. She only managed to get 4.2%, would thus be interesting to see with what Mayco position she would be rewarded.

There were atleast three surprises in this election in Drakenstein. One of them being the DA not only taking the Gouda ward from the ANC with more than 10%, but increasing their support to just under 50%.

The DA also took control of another former ANC stronghold, the Simondium ward, with 62.32% - 15.17% more than the ANC’s 47.15% in 2011. This could be due to unhappiness by residents in the ward with the former councillor. What makes the win significant though is that the DA candidate is not even from the area.

Smaller parties showed they should not be underestimated in local government election. The Progressive People’s Movement took control of an ANC stronghold. The PDM won the ward but with less than 50% only getting 41.67%. What makes it surprising is that the ANC lost more than double its support, falling from 85.53% in 2011 to 40.83% in this election.

One of the other surprises is that the EFF did not perform as well as many might have hoped it would. This could indicate that while some agree with some of the things the revolutionary movement is advocating for, its performance on the Parliamentary floor was not good enough.

While the EFF gathered quite support in coloured areas, across Drakenstein, it managed to make some good inroads in Mbekweni - possibly contributing to the drop in the ANC support.

As the fourth Drakenstein municipal council constitutes the voice of the voters will be represented in council by eight political parties. This is the most political party representation since the amalgamation in 2000 of the council.

Western Cape Municipal Results

Seats won by parties in each Western Cape Municipal Council following #2016MunicipalElections

Breedevalley: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	22
African National Congress (ANC)	12
Breedevalley Onafhanklik (BO)	4
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	1
People’s Democratic Movement (PDM)	1
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	1

Drakenstein: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	43
African National Congress (ANC)	15
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	2
People’s Democratic Movement (PDM)	1
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	1
Federation of Democrats	1
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	1
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	1

Langeberg: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	12
African National Congress (ANC)	6
People’s Democratic Movement (PDM)	1

Stellenbosch: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	30
African National Congress (ANC)	8
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	2
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	1
People’s Democratic Movement (PDM)	1
DNCA	1

Witzenberg: hung-council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	11
African National Congress (ANC)	8
Witzenberg Aksie (WA)	1
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	1
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	1
Congress of the People (Cope)	1

George: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	29
African National Congress (ANC)	16
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI)	2
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	1
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	1
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	1
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	1
African Independent Congress (AIC)	1
South Africa Civics (SAC)

Knysna: hung council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	10
African National Congress (ANC)	7
Congress of the People (Cope)	1
Knysna Unity Congress (K.U.C)	1
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	1

Mossel Bay: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	17
African National Congress (ANC)	7
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	1
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	1
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)	1

Oudsthoorn: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	14
African National Congress (ANC)	7
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	2
SA Religious Civic Organisation (SARCO)	1
Economic Freedom Fighters	1

Laingsburg: hung council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	3
African National Congress (ANC)	3
Karoo Ontwikkelings Party (KOP)	1

  

Beaufort West: hung council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	6
African National Congress (ANC)	6
Karoo Democratic Force (KDF)	1

Hessequa: hung-council

Party	Seats
African National Congress (ANC)	8
Democratic Alliance (DA)	8
Freedom Front Plus (FF+)	1

Kannaland: hung-council

Party	Seats
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	3
Democratic Alliance (DA)	2
African National Congress (ANC)	2

Prince Albert: hung council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	3
Karoo Gemeenskap Party (KGP)	2
African National Congress (ANC)	2

Bitou: hung council

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	6
African National Congress (ANC)	6
Active United Front (AUF)	1

Cape Agulhas: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	6
African National Congress (ANC)	3
Dienslewerings Party	1

Overstrand: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	16
African National Congress (ANC)	8
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	1

Swellendam: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	6
African National Congress (ANC)	5

Theewaterskloof: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	14
African National Congress (ANC)	10
UFEC	1
Economic Freedom Fighters	1
Independent Civic Org. of SA (ICOSA)	1

Bergriver: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	9
African National Congress (ANC)	4

Cederberg: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	6
African National Congress (ANC)	4
Alliance of Democratic Chance (ADC)	1

Matzikama: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	8
African National Congress (ANC)	5
UD	1
Economic Freedom Fighters	1

Saldanha Bay: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	17
African National Congress (ANC)	8
Economic Freedom Fighters	1
SRA-SIA	1

Swartland: DA majority

Party	Seats
Democratic Alliance (DA)	16
African National Congress (ANC)	6
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	1

•  Hung-councils are where no majority received an outright majority to govern comfortably.