The Patriotic Alliance had the perfect start to the local government election season when it won two wards off the DA in George in the Western Cape. The DA was also given a very good run for its money by the Freedom Front Plus in a suburban seat in Tshwane, Gauteng. The setting:Ward 57 is south of the Pretoria centre.
It sits just above the Supersport Park cricket stadium in Centurion. Most of the voters in the ward reside in Lyttleton, but the single voting district with the most registered voters is in Die Hoewes. The 2021 local government elections:The DA swept all three voting districts and ended just shy of the 60% mark.
It did best at Laerskool Louis Leipoldt where they obtained 64% support. The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) was second, winning 18% support at both Lyttleton voting districts. ActionSA came third with 9%, with its 11% return in the lone De Hoewes voting district its best result in the ward.
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The ANC was fourth with 8%. The party did best in Die Hoewes, picking up 13%. The EFF was fifth with 5%.
The 2024 provincial election:The DA came first with 57% and the EFF second with 11%, well up from its 2021 showing. The ANC was third with 10%. The FF+ ended fourth with 8% and ActionSA fifth on 5%.
The DA and FF+ fared best at Lyttleton Primary School, while the EFF, ANC and ActionSA did best at the single De Hoewes voting district. The by-election:The ward councillor died after a long illness. The EFF, which came second in the ward in 2024, and ActionSA, the party with the Tshwane mayoral chain, opted to miss this by-election.
The DA was given a major fright in this traditionally safe seat. The area of the ward where the party has traditionally struggled the most, the De Hoewes voting district, ended up saving the party’s bacon. The margin in De Hoewes was 375 votes.
The ANC’s support cratered in this ward. It fell from 13% to 4% in De Hoewes and barely registered any support in Lyttleton. The setting:George is the third-most-populous municipality in the Western Cape. It is also the most vote-rich municipality in the Garden Route district, which includes the towns of Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and Knysna.
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