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.