Voters made an x for the devil they know

Voters made an x for the devil they know. This is the conclusion one can draw from the recent local government election. 

Despite the ANC and DA still being the two biggest political parties, they did not have a good local government election. 

Both should also be doing some serious introspection.

While at it they may as well look at and compare their message to that of other parties. Their ignorant approach and avoiding the noise that often cause distraction is what cost them votes.

The voter percentage everywhere was down. There are many factors to that, for starters the Independent Electoral Commission was not ready for an election. In their defence they said before the proclamation they not ready, but that is just poor planning. Secondly the election was on a Monday that was a public holiday, and many compatriots took a long weekend. There are other factors as well like the weather and fact that political parties did not offer any real service delivery solutions and speak to the heart of voters.

In Drakenstein with 51,44% the voter percentage was 13,80% less than the 64,72% in 2016. There were 131 182 registered voters of whom 67 483 voted in 2021, compared to the 129 265 registered voters of whom 83 666 voted in 2016.

Despite the DA and ANC retaining all the wards and the ANC winning one from the Progressive Democratic Movement (PDM), the DA lost 7 and ANC 2 seats. The DA went from governing with a comfortable 66% to a 55% support, while the ANC went from 23% to 19%. This is a lot for the two big political parties.

On the ballot paper there were 19 political parties of whom 11 have won seats in the Drakenstein council. There was an expectation that GOOD would perform well, but they disappointed and managed only to perform uhm good [sic]. Nevertheless, they took votes from the DA and in some wards from the ANC. 

Meanwhile the Freedom Front Plus, Concerned Drakenstein Residents, ACDP and Patriotic Alliance did very well. Icosa increased its support, but there was an opportunity for them to do better. Big surprises in the election were the EFF, who lost votes, and the PAC and Al Jama who both increased their support.

Why did the DA and ANC still do better than the smaller parties? Both can run bigger campaigns and, based on a summarised response from a few voters, they voted for the devil they know.

Several wards had a voter percentage of under 50% with wards 5, 8 and 24 at 41%, ward 14 had 40% and ward 16 with 35% the lowest. The highest voter percentage was 71% in ward 2, but still lower than in 2016. The DA’s support in wards dropped from 66,30 to 54,92%.

Compared to 2016 the DA lost the most support in ward 20 (31,82%), ward 24 (30,81%), ward 14 (26,69%), ward 22 (26,18%) and ward 25 (25,78%). The party had a slight increase in ward 6 (4,67%) and ward 28 (0,7%).

The Freedom Front Plus performed well in ward 2 gaining 24% of the vote, where the DA lost 23,68%. GOOD did good in ward 25 (25,92%) and received 17,81% in ward 33 where the DA lost 21%. In ward 11 the DA lost 22,74% where Good received 15,67% and CDR 14,81%. CDR also performed well in ward 14 (16.81%) and got 14,86% in ward 13 where the DA lost 23,4%.

Smaller parties who did well, based on the voter percentages from 2021 vs 2016 and political party representation in council, is a clear sign that voters are not happy with the bigger parties and sending a message to parties that votes can be taken back.

The challenge now is for the duly elected public representatives of the fifth Drakenstein municipal council to be just that: public representatives. It is especially the smaller parties who will need to show they can be an effective opposition, with a bigger task resting on the shoulders of those entering council for the first time to make an impact on their communities.

Some entering council will learn that there is a difference to being an activist and being a public representative and saying things are easier than getting things done, as well as the consequences for some decisions.

GOOD will have to be careful not to make the same mistakes as the Independent Democrats back in the day, while CDR needs to be careful not to walk the same path as that of the Federation of Democrats during the second administration.

Most important for our public representatives is that the newly formed government might have been given a mandate, but that should not be taken for granted. Those not part of the government were also given a mandate to hold local government accountable and ensure they play their part in ensuring service delivery takes place.

An edited version of this opinion piece was originally published in Paarl Post of 11 November 2021.