ANC upsets DA in Knysna by-election

Voter Rolhda Seale 75 from Eindhoven after casting her vote during Wednesday’s municipal by- election in Delft Ward 20. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Voter Rolhda Seale 75 from Eindhoven after casting her vote during Wednesday’s municipal by- election in Delft Ward 20. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Apr 23, 2021

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Cape Town - The ANC scored a major upset in Knysna during Wednesday’s municipal by-elections, where its candidate won the traditional DA Ward 11 (Hornlee).

ANC support in the ward shot up from 29% to 48.5% while the DA’s votes fell from 51% to 34.1%.

The candidate who won the seat for the ANC was Lorraine Opperman, who crossed over from the DA earlier this year after her party membership was terminated for disobeying the DA caucus’ voting instructions in a council vote.

Opperman’s victory, which returns her to the council, gives the ANC nine seats on the council and keeps the current ANC, Cope and Knysna Unity Congress coalition in power.

In Beaufort West’s Ward 4 (KwaMandlenkosi town centre) the ANC held on to its seat with its candidate Castro de Bruin taking 43.2% of the votes cast, while in Cape Town’s Ward 20 (Delft South Eindhoven) the DA’s Dineo Masiu emerged victorious to retain the seat for the party with 50.7 % of the vote.

ANC Western Cape convener Lerumo Kalako said: “We consider the two by-election victories registered in Beaufort West and Knysna as encouraging signs for the national local government elections scheduled to take place in October.

“Yesterday President Ramaphosa announced national local government elections will be held on Wednesday, October 27. We will focus our attention on this date and are convinced that our by-election wins are a sign we will do much better at the polls than we did in the previous local government elections.”

DA Western Cape Acting Provincial Leader Albert Fritz said: “Yesterday’s by-elections served as an invaluable learning curve for the DA. In Knysna, the DA was unfortunately not able to retain Ward 11, and in Beaufort West, the ANC managed to retain ward 4. As we approach the 2021 Local Government Elections on October 27, we will regroup and apply the many lessons we have learned here.

“Meanwhile with almost 51% of the vote in Delft, the DA was unaffected by old rivals and newcomers, such as the Cape Coloured Congress (CCC).”

CCC secretary-general Sakeena Frenchman said: “The DA’s victory in Delft today will be short lived. We took away almost 20% of the DA’s traditional support base in its stronghold, and by doing so the voters in Delft have decisively put the DA on notice and rejected its racist, unfair and discriminatory policies.”

Of the 14 wards contested nationally, the ANC won 12, the DA won one and the IFP retained one seat.

Cape Argus

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