By-elections: Signs of recovery for the DA as well as areas for improvement
22 April 2021
The DA notes the results of yesterday’s by-elections, where the party retained one and lost one ward, among the four by-elections contested. These results contained some encouraging trends for us, as well as some areas where we know we have work to do between now and the local government elections later this year.
In this regard we welcome yesterday’s announcement that the elections will take place on 27 October 2021. The right to vote for your government is one of the most fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution. In a time when South Africans have, over the course of the past year, been forced to surrender to government many of their other hard-fought democratic rights, it is critical that these elections take place and that the balance of power swings back to the citizens, where it belongs.
We are also happy that other parties have now conceded that it is crucial for these elections to go ahead, after some of them initially tried to block this. A mature democracy requires that all of its participants understand and support the importance of regular, free and fair elections.
As far as last night’s by-election results are concerned, we are satisfied to have retained Ward 20 in Cape Town (Delft), albeit with a reduced majority. This ward was a litmus test for the party’s support among coloured voters, and last night showed that this support stood firm. Taking a voting district off the ANC in a predominately black ward is a big win for us. Given the DA’s decline there from 2016 to 2019, retaining this ward is a sign that we are indeed starting to turn this ship around. We have plenty of work to do there before voters go to the polls in October, but I am confident that we can make up any ground we lost.