STELLENBOSCH – The first results of the local-government elections in Stellenbosch have started to trickle in, although counting in certain wards was still underway.

At 12:30 on Thursday 5 November preliminary results had the Democratic Alliance (DA) leading the municipality with 61,64% of the counted votes, followed by the official opposition in council, the African National Congress (ANC), sitting at 10,52%.

The Patriotic Alliance (PA), which won Ward 16 (Cloetesville) over earlier this year during a bi-election, sat at 9,8%.

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Although historical voters patterns continued this year there were various changes in ward boundaries, which could effect voting. Earlier this year the Municipal Demarcation Board made adjustments to the boundaries of 15 of Stellenbosch’s 23 wards.

These changes meant that some residents had to re-register at the Electoral Commission (IEC) owing to new voting stations for them.

By lunchtime the counting in Ward 3 (Groot-Drakenstein) had been completed with the DA retaining the ward with a 52,3% majority. Support for the PA increased this year and took the second spot in the ward with 16,18% followed by the ANC (14,54%).

In Ward 5 (Rustenburg and Jonkershoek) the DA kept their hold. The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) saw a considerable surge in support going from 0,37% of votes during the 2021 LGE to 7,61% now. The ANC were in the third place with 7,52% of the votes.

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Two of Khayamandi’s four wards had been counted by early afternoon, and it seems in Ward 14 and 15, historic voting patterns persisted. In Ward 14 the ANC was top dog with 52,9% of votes, followed by the DA (18,7%) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which received 9,67% (367 votes) of support from residents. Ward 15’s top three parties were the same. The ANC received 1 835 (47,14%) of the votes.

Wards in central Stellenbosch remained DA, but overall it was the FF+ who saw a surge in support in and around the central business district. This includes Ward 9 (Stellenbosch CBD and Libertas) were the DA took the ward and where support for the FF+ grew from 4,44% to 6,02%.

At the time of publication results for Wards 1 and 2 (Franschhoek), Ward 20 (Raithby), Ward 21 (Paradyskloof), Ward 19 (De Novo and Bottelary) and were among the voting stations where ballot counting was not yet complete.