The final elections results for the Western Cape show the small parties gave the ANC and DA bloody noses as their votes were slashed compared to outcomes five years ago.
The province has 3.1 million registered voters but only 1.5 million (48.96%) came to the polls.
There were 16 hung municipalities across the province.
The DA recorded 403 seats, translating to 54.20%.
This was a decline from its 63.33% in the last local government elections.
The party won with an outright majority in eight councils and was leading in 20, including the City of Cape Town.
A look at the elections results shows the DA dropped to below 50% in nine municipalities.
It maintained more or less the same number of votes in the Bergrivier and Overstrand municipalities.
The party increased its support in Prince Albert, Swellendam and Hessequa.
It lost its majority in several municipalities such as Breede Valley, Cape Agulhas, Langeberg, Theewaterskloof, Matzikama and Knysna while retaining Swellendam, Overstrand and Stellenbosch, among others.
The ANC was without a municipality under control after the final results were out as it lost the only municipality it won in 2016 in Laingsburg.
The party’s tally stood at 20.20% in votes and 177 seats.
It was leading in Oudtshoorn and Cederberg.
The ANC’s votes were slashed by double digits in each of the Prince Albert, Laingsburg, Bitou, Mossel Bay, George, Hessequa, Overstrand and Bergrivier municipalities.
The Good party secured 39 seats (4.31%) at final count, the Freedom Front 24 seats (3.42%), Patriotic Alliance 28 (2.35%), ACDP 12 (1.94%),and Cape Coloured Congress eight (1.77%).
The EFF increased its seats to 24, Al-Jama-ah won four seats, Independent Congress of South Africa eight, CapeExit one, Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners six, BreedeVallei Onafhanklik four while three seats each were won by the Cederberg First Residents and Concerned Drakenstein Residents.
Meanwhile, the decline in votes for the DA and the ANC continued as each garnered 135 seats (58.22%) and 43 seats (18.63%) in the City of Cape Town.
The DA’s electoral support slumped by 8.39% while the ANC’s was slashed by 5.36%.
The EFF increased its seat from seven to 10 seats, Good nine, Cape Coloured Congress seven, ACDP six, Freedom Front Plus four, Patriotic Alliance four, Al-jama-ah three, African Restoration Alliance two, CapeExit one and United Independent Movement also one.
Also making a return to the council are the PAC, the UDM, Cape Muslim Congress, African Independent Congress and Democratic Independents and African Transformation Movement.
COPE failed to secure a seat in the metro.
The city had 1.9 million registered voters but only 933 749 (47.13%) came to cast their ballots for the 231 seats up for grabs.
Western Cape IEC told Independent Media the spoilt vote outcomes were relatively the same as previous elections.
It also said there were various factors that attributed to a spoilt vote, nothing specific.
“The IEC engages in voter and ballot education across the province continuously during periods covering election events and non-election periods,” the provincial Western Cape IEC said.
Political Bureau