STEVEN LANG
There are many ways to analyse the results of this week’s election in Ndlambe Municipality. We can make sense of the exercise by considering how the three ballot papers we received are used to compose a council that will run the municipality for the next five years.
The first ballot paper was cast to decide who is going to represent each ward. Ndlambe has ten wards and so it has ten ward councillors who represent their respective parties. The composition of this half of the 20-seat council has not changed much since the 2021 local government elections. All the wards in 2026 will be represented by the same party as in 2021 except for Ward 4 which has changed hands from the African National Congress (ANC) to the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The list of ten ward councillors for Ndlambe:
Ward |
Ward Councillor |
Party |
% |
|
1 |
Asanda |
Nyumka |
ANC |
63.45% |
2 |
Tembekile Milton |
Bunge |
ANC |
54.23% |
3 |
Vuyisani Maxwell |
Tsitsi |
ANC |
62.34% |
4 |
Yedwa Phil |
Kani |
DA |
49.92% |
5 |
Mzwandile |
Sweli |
ANC |
47.67% |
6 |
Angelique |
McAdam |
DA |
43.9% |
7 |
Sibusiso |
Zweni |
ANC |
44.01% |
8 |
Xolani |
Bukani |
ANC |
45.86% |
9 |
Noluphelo Portia |
Plaatjie |
ANC |
52.35% |
10 |
Anthony William |
Gouws |
DA |
87.62% |
Once they have been elected, ward councillors may not change without a by-election. The parties have no option to change any of their ward representatives.
The most remarkable change in the ward votes from 2021 to 2026 is that with the exception of Ward 10 – there was a significant reduction in the percentage of votes cast for the winning party.
|
|
2021 |
Difference |
2026 |
||
Ward |
Ward |
% |
Ward Seat |
% |
|
1 |
ANC |
68.65 |
-5.20 pp |
ANC |
63.45% |
2 |
ANC |
62.73 |
-8.50 pp |
ANC |
54.23% |
3 |
ANC |
65.4 |
-3.06 pp |
ANC |
62.34% |
4 |
ANC |
54.64 |
-4.72 pp |
DA |
49.92% |
5 |
ANC |
61.34 |
-13.67 pp |
ANC |
47.67% |
6 |
DA |
49.2 |
-5.30 pp |
DA |
43.9% |
7 |
ANC |
67.4 |
-23.39 pp |
ANC |
44.01% |
8 |
ANC |
57.57 |
-11.71 pp |
ANC |
45.86% |
9 |
ANC |
62.2 |
-9.85 pp |
ANC |
52.35% |
10 |
DA |
85.99 |
+1.63 pp |
DA |
87.62% |
In 2021, only one ward (Ward 6) did not return an absolute majority (more than 50%) to the winning party. In 2026, half the wards were won with less than 50% of the votes.
The second ballot papers are for the ten seats assigned according to the proportional representation (PR) system. All the votes cast with the second ballot paper are added to the ward votes. The PR seats are allocated based on the proportion of the total number of votes for each party.
In this half of the new Council, the small parties benefit from votes cast in wards where they did not receive a majority. The PR seats will be allocated:
-
The ANC – Two PR seats
-
DA – four
-
TBPM – two
-
EFF – one and
-
FF Plus – PR seat
As the PR ballots are cast in favour of parties and not individuals, the parties have some leeway in adding people to their lists. This means that the first person on a list is not necessarily a mayoral candidate – even though we have come to expect this to be the case.
The new Council in Ndlambe will be made up as follows:
Party |
Ward seats |
PR seats |
Total seats |
ANC |
7 |
2 |
9 |
DA |
3 |
4 |
7 |
TBPM* |
0 |
2 |
2 |
EFF |
0 |
1 |
1 |
VF Plus |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Total |
10 |
10 |
20 |
*Thina Bahlali People’s Movement
In terms of normal activities on Council, there is no difference in the powers or responsibilities between the two types of Councillors
The third ballot paper counts for proportional representation in 40% of the seats in the District Municipality. This formula is complicated because it counts votes from all seven local municipalities in the final composition of Sarah Baartman District Municipality Council.
The District Council 40% vote for the parties with the biggest representation in Ndlambe was as follows:
Party |
District Council Percentage |
ANC |
45.39% |
DA |
32.77% |
TBPM |
11.01% |
EFF |
3.19% |
VF Plus |
2.83% |