Three by-elections were held on Wednesday, with the DA defending two seats in the Eastern Cape and the ANC one in the Northern Cape.
In the Blue Crane Route (Somerset East) municipality in the Eastern Cape, the DA defended two seats, one very marginally.
In ward 2, the DA beat the ANC by only ten votes to retain the ward, with the DA winning 992 votes to the ANC’s 982. The margin had been much bigger in the 2021 local government election, when the DA won over 1 200 votes to the ANC’s 720. The EFF was the only other party involved in the by-election, winning only 2% of the vote.
The DA defended another ward in the municipality, slightly more comfortably but not convincingly. In this seat the DA won 46.4% of the vote, with the ANC winning 41.4%. The EFF’s candidate received 4% of the vote while the PA secured 8%. In the 2021 municipal election the DA had managed over 50% of the vote in the ward.
In Sol Plaatje (Kimberley) the ANC narrowly defended a seat. It won only 32% of the vote on Wednesday, but this was enough for it to be the biggest party. In the 2021 election it had secured 41% in the ward.
The DA was the second-biggest party on Wednesday, with 25%. The PA was snapping at its heels with 24.8%. An independent and former ANC councillor in the municipality, Vaughan Settley, won 13%.
The EFF again did poorly, winning 1% of the vote.
The DA will be concerned with how narrowly it held on to one of the seats in Somerset East. It will also be watching how well the PA has been faring in by-elections with some trepidation.