With mere days to go before the polls open on Wednesday 4 November Stellenbosch’s political landscape has been reshaped by leadership changes, party defections, by-election battles and a surge of new voters.

The contest in the City of Oaks is shaping up to be one of the most crowded in the municipality’s history, with 18 political parties registered to appear on the ballot.

ALSO READ: Stellenbosch Municipality says it will not be drawn into pre-election ‘mudslinging’

Political landscape, current leadership

According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) the Western Cape will see 416 wards contested across 25 municipalities.

In Stellenbosch the 106 225 registered voters will cast their votes in one of the 23 municipal wards.

Parties contesting for seats in Stellenbosch’s municipal council are the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), African Independent Congress (AIC), African National Congress (ANC), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Afrika Mayibuye Movement, Alliance of Citizens for Change, Cape Independence Party (CapeXit), Democratic Alliance (DA), Democratic New Civic Association, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Good, National Coloured Congress, Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, Patriotic Alliance (PA), People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), South African Communist Party, Umkhonto Wesizwe, as well as the Freedom Front Plus (FF+).

The current council, elected in 2021 is made up of the ruling DA, ANC, EFF, Good, ACDP, PA, PDM and FF+.

Lay of the land

The DA has been at the helm of the municipality for 15 years

It is now under the stewardship of Cloetesviller Jeremy Fasser, former deputy to Gesie van Deventer, from whom he took over. She announced her retirement at the end of October 2024, stepping down at the end of November after more than a decade in the Winelands and eight years as mayor.

Over the last few years there has been various shifts in council with crossovers, which included Isabelle de Taillefer, former FF+ proportional councillor, who crossed the aisle to the DA.

Ward 16 councillor Elsabe Vermeulen resigned from the DA earlier this year and joined the Patriotic Alliance (PA). During the by-election she held onto her ward and joined PA Councillor John Andrews.

The DA lost two more councillors this year, with the notable resignation of Ward 21 councillor and former deputy mayor Mynard Slabbert.

He was asked to leave the DA and has since come forward saying his push out of the party followed his attempts to bring wrongdoing within the party to light. Slabbert and former DA colleague Siegfried Schäfer both found a new home at the FF+.

The lead up to the election also has also not been without controversy. Earlier this month the Stellenbosch ANC sought to have Fasser removed from office.

In a statement released on 2 October the local ANC branch said it had become aware of “serious allegations of abuse of power relating to municipal resources, administrative personnel and budget processes that were used to advance the DA’s electoral interests”.

The main opposition party in the council said no political party should use municipal government as an instrument for party dominance.

ALSO READ: Slabbert steps down as deputy mayor of Stellenbosch

The geographics

Residents of 15 municipal wards within Stellenbosch Municipality should have ensured they are registered to vote in the correct ward as changes were made to various ward boundaries earlier this year.

The adjustments to ward boundaries was made by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), which delimits ward boundaries ahead of Local Government Elections, in accordance with the prescribed norms for each municipality.

Changes in ward boundaries means voters may have new voting stations this year to reregister, as has historically been the case.

The wards that have changes to boundaries includes the Stellenbosch Central area – wards 7, 8, 10 and 22; Franschhoek – Ward 2; Kylemore – Ward 4; Ida’s Valley – wards 5 and 19; Kayamandi – wards 12, 14 and 15; Cloetesville – wards 11, 17 and 21; and Klapmuts – ward 18.

Historical trends

Changes in the municipal boundaries may mean historic voting patterns could shift.

That, along with various political changes in the local landscape, may mean more support for smaller parties, such as the PA who took Ward 16 (Cloetesville) from the DA during the by-election.

It seems it is both in previously disadvantaged communities as well as Stellenbosch’s more affluent areas murmurs of change in historic political support can be heard.

On both side of the political spectrum it seems previously disadvantaged communities are leaning towards Gayton McKenzie’s PA while the conservative FF+ may be pulling more support from Stellenbosch’s affluent residents.

During the 2021 Local Government Election the DA received 61,46% of Stellenbosch’s resident votes, giving the “Blue Train” 28 seats in council.

The closest party was the ANC, which took 16,35% of the votes, equating to eight seats, and Good had three seats in council thanks to its 6,17% voters support.

ALSO READ: Raadslid is terug in haar pos ná Cloetesville-tussenverkiesing