THE Patriotic Alliance (PA) has managed to wrestle a ward previously held by the DA in the City of Johannesburg while the official opposition retained another ward by a landslide.
PA candidate Beverley Smouse emerged victorious in Ward 82, winning her seat by 41.71% of the total votes cast while the voter turnout was 27.07%.
The council seat was previously held by the DA, whose candidate Chahracan Khana Amod won it in the 2021 local government elections. It became vacant after Amod died in January.
The African Christian Democratic Party managed just under 21% while the DA obtained 12.76% and the ANC 12.6%.
The by-elections in Ward 82, which includes Claremont, Bosmont, Newlands, Westbury, and Newclare, among others, were contested by 10 political parties including the EFF, Al Jama-ah, African Independent Congress (AIC), and the National Coloured Congress.
On Human Rights Day last month, the DA unleashed its federal chairperson Helen Zille to campaign for its candidate Anistine Watson.
In another by-election, the DA’s Hendrik Bodenstein in Ward 99 garnered 98.09% while the only other candidate, the ANC’s Nombuso Mhlongo, only managed less than 2%.
The voter turnout was 24.22% and the seat was won by the DA in the 2021 municipal polls.
The previous councillor Nicole van Dyk resigned in February to become a DA member of the Gauteng provincial legislature.
After the announcement of the results, PA leader Gayton McKenzie said the people in the area loved his party, which he described as the fastest growing in the country and has now set its sights on the next round of by-elections in the Northern Cape.
The Nama Khoi and Karoo Hoogland local municipalities in Okiep and Sutherland, respectively, will vote next month after the wards became vacant as a result of the councillors’ resignations.
The PA, which now has 10 councillors in the City of Joburg, is part of the Government of Local Unity with the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, IFP, AIC, Al Jama-ah, and the PAC.