One by-election was held on Wednesday, in Polokwane.
The DA easily held on to the ward, with the only other party fielding a candidate being the ANC.
The by-election was necessary because the sitting ward councillor had become an MPL for the DA in the Limpopo provincial legislature.
In Wednesday’s poll, the DA won nearly 70% of just over 1 200 votes cast, with the rest of the votes going to the ANC, except for four. These were cast for the Truth and Solidarity Movement (TSM), the political party founded by controversial Cape Town businessman, Mehmet Vefa Dag. The TSM has been standing in by-elections around the country in recent times, but has failed to make an impact, with its candidate in a recent Mpumalanga by-election winning zero votes.
The DA’s good performance was also made possible by the VF+ failing to field a candidate on Wednesday. In the 2021 local government elections the VF+ had won 20% of the vote, against the DA’s 50%. It is likely that on Wednesday most of the VF+’s supporters decided to throw their weight behind the DA.
[Photo: DA website]