The DA in the Mangaung Metro Municipality made a clean sweep in the municipal by-elections the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) held on Wednesday, 11 September. These by-elections were for wards 18, 20, 22, and 25 in Bloemfontein.
The party retained all four wards with a big margin, showing an improvement in support received from the voters.
The wards were previously led by party councillors Dave Mc Kay (ward 18), Dulandi Leech (ward 22), Werner Pretorius (ward 20) and Rossouw Botes (ward 25).
The positions became vacant after three of them were appointed to serve in the Free State Legislature, while Botes was moved to the position of a proportional representative (PR) councillor in the Mangaung Council.
Werner Horn, DA Free State provincial chairperson, has described the retention of the wards as a resounding success.
“The DA achieved significant success in the Free State, retaining the wards in Mangaung, as well as ward 35 in Matjhabeng,” said Horn.
“Building on the positive momentum from the 2024 national and provincial elections (NPE), these by-election results demonstrate a growing level of trust and support from the electorate for the DA,” he said.
The newly-elected ward councillors in Mangaung are: Gregory van Noord (ward 18), Corize van Rensburg (ward 20), Jan-Hendrik Cronje (ward 22) and Paul Kotzé (ward 25). Estelle Dansey has been elected to serve as the councillor of ward 35 in Matjhabeng.
The DA support in these wards have been indicated as follows:
- ward 18 in Mangaung – support has increased from 65,6% in 2021 to 85,23% in 2024;
- ward 20 in Mangaung – support increased from 75,1% in 2021 to 98,40% in 2024;
- ward 22 in Mangaung – support increased from 74,2% in 2021 to 97,36% in 2024;
- ward 25 in Mangaung – support increased from 79,8% in 2021 to 97,78% in 2024; and
- ward 35 in Matjhabeng – support increased from 45,8% in 2021 to 46,02% in 2024.
