Two by-elections were held on Wednesday, with the ANC holding a ward in the Northern Cape and the PA winning its first ward in Cape Town.
In Dikgatlong (Barkly West) the ANC easily defended a seat, winning just over two thirds of the vote. The PA won 20%, with the DA in third place with 13%. In the 2021 local government elections the ANC had won 44% of the vote, so the party will be happy with this improvement.
In Cape Town the PA won its first ward in the city. It was helped by the fact that neither the DA or the ANC registered candidates in the ward, meaning that the ward – previously held by the DA – was up for grabs by smaller parties.
On Wednesday the PA was the single biggest party, securing 40.7% of the vote. In the 2021 local government election the PA’s candidate had failed to win a single vote in the ward, so this is a stunning turnaround for the party.
GOOD was second with 23.8% while the ACDP and the Africa Restoration Alliance (an ACDP splinter) each managed just over 10% of the vote.
This is the first time since 2008 that a party other than the DA or the ANC had won a ward in Cape Town.
The ANC will be relatively happy with its performance in the Northern Cape while the PA will be ecstatic with its performance in the two by-elections, with it eyeing its first Parliamentary seats in 2024.