Politics of the Western Cape

During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia the City of Cape Town lit up the City Hall in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. The Western Cape government’s open support for Ukraine was in contrast to the neutral position taken by the South African government and is representative of the province’s different political norms.

The politics of the Western Cape differs from that of most other provinces in South Africa, because, unlike the other provinces, the African National Congress (ANC) does not dominate the political landscape. The Western Cape’s political landscape is also notable for the presence of a relatively strong local devolution and independence movement.^[1][2][3]

Election history[edit]

In the election of 2004, no party achieved an absolute majority in the province, with the ANC having a plurality of 45% of the votes. However, the ANC was in an alliance with the New National Party (NNP), which had 11% of the votes, which allowed the ANC-NNP coalition to form a provincial government. During the 2005 floor crossing period all of the NNP members of the Provincial Parliament moved to the ANC, giving the ANC an absolute majority in the province. The ANC chose Ebrahim Rasool as Premier; in 2008 he was replaced by Lynne Brown. The provincial leader of the ANC was Mcebisi Skwatsha.

The official opposition in the Western Cape after the 2004 elections was the Democratic Alliance (DA), which received 27% of the vote in the provincial ballot. The City of Cape Town, the most populous municipality in the province, was governed by a multi-party coalition led by the DA after the 2006 municipal elections. The DA increased its share of the vote during the 2011 municipal elections to 61.09%, giving them a firm majority and allowing them to govern the City of Cape Town without their former coalition partners ^[4]

In the election of 22 April 2009 the ANC was unseated by the DA, which took 51.46% of the vote.^[5] This election marked the first time since the end of apartheid that a party scored an overall majority in the province. The DA leader Helen Zille replaced Lynne Brown as Premier on 6 May 2009.^[6]

In the election of 7 May 2014 the DA maintained its hold on the province, increasing its majority to 59.4%.

In the election of 8 May 2019 the DA won a reduced majority of 55.45%.

Election results[edit]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Alliance	1,140,647	55.45	–3.93	24	–2
	African National Congress	589,055	28.63	–4.25	12	–2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	83,075	4.04	+1.93	2	+1
	Good	61,971	3.01	New	1	New
	African Christian Democratic Party	54,762	2.66	+1.64	1	0
	Freedom Front Plus	32,115	1.56	+1.01	1	+1
	Al Jama-ah	17,607	0.86	+0.24	1	+1
	Independent Civic Organisation	9,536	0.46	–0.10	0	0
	Cape Party	9,331	0.45	New	0	New
	Congress of the People	6,528	0.32	–0.27	0	0
	Alliance for Transformation for All	6,175	0.30	New	0	New
	Land Party	5,926	0.29	New	0	New
	United Democratic Movement	5,728	0.28	–0.20	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	4,953	0.24	New	0	New
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners	3,852	0.19	New	0	New
	Pan Africanist Congress	3,845	0.19	+0.02	0	0
	Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party	3,026	0.15	New	0	New
	African Independent Congress	2,898	0.14	–0.17	0	0
	Green Party	2,613	0.13	New	0	New
	National Freedom Party	2,240	0.11	+0.07	0	0
	Khoisan Revolution	1,854	0.09	New	0	New
	Dienslewerings Party	1,703	0.08	New	0	New
	Karoo Democratic Force	1,512	0.07	New	0	New
	African Covenant	993	0.05	New	0	New
	African People’s Convention	915	0.04	–0.02	0	0
	People’s Republic of South Africa	710	0.03	New	0	New
	Inkatha Freedom Party	599	0.03	–0.02	0	0
	All Things Are Possible	556	0.03	New	0	New
	African Progressive Movement	531	0.03	New	0	New
	Azanian People’s Organisation	475	0.02	–0.02	0	0
	Free Democrats	470	0.02	New	0	New
	New South Africa Party	444	0.02	New	0	New
	Forum for Service Delivery	310	0.02	New	0	New
	African Content Movement	257	0.01	New	0	New
Total		2,057,212	100.00	–	42	–
Valid votes		2,057,212	99.20
Invalid/blank votes		16,516	0.80
Total votes		2,073,728	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,128,567	66.28
Source: Election Resources

References[edit]

See also[edit]