The Democratic Alliance has retained control of the City of Cape Town with an outright majority. However, its dominance across the Western Cape does not translate into outright control everywhere. Sixteen of the province’s municipalities produced hung councils, forcing coalition negotiations and leaving smaller parties with outsized influence.
The DA secured an outright
majority in Cape Town, making it the only metropolitan municipality where a
single party won enough seats to govern alone. According to the final results
reported after the election, the party received about 56% of the vote in the metro.
That outcome removes the
immediate need for coalition negotiations in South Africa’s second-largest
city. It also gives the DA a stable platform in the municipality that accounts
for roughly 70% of the Western Cape’s voting bloc.
The DA remains the leading
political force in the province, winning 53.95% of the provincial vote and 418 council seats. It controls nine municipalities outright,
including Cape Town, George, Berg River, Drakenstein, Hessequa, Mossel Bay,
Overstrand, Stellenbosch and Swartland.
But the “catch” is that the DA
leads in many councils where it still lacks a majority. Of the province’s 25
municipalities, 16 were hung councils,
meaning no party secured the seats needed to govern alone.
The first major post-election coalition
agreement has emerged in Laingsburg,
where the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and ActionSA have agreed to work together.
ActionSA and the DA each hold three of Laingsburg’s 10 council seats.
The ANC has two, while the PA and the People’s Movement for Change have one
each.
A council majority requires six seats. With the PA’s support,
ActionSA can count on four councillors — still two short of an outright
majority.
That makes Laingsburg a test
case for post-election dealmaking: ActionSA has the moral advantage of winning
the most votes, the PA has provided political backing, but neither party can
govern alone without further negotiations.
The DA has said it will engage
all parties in councils where no party won a majority. Its provincial
leadership has indicated that coalition talks will focus on securing stable
governance rather than entering agreements automatically.
For the PA, the Laingsburg
agreement signals an early attempt to build influence beyond its own seat
count. For ActionSA, it offers a route to the mayoral chain but, not yet a
guaranteed governing majority.
Done By: Elona Sibunzi
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