DA wins 418 seats, 16 councils remain without majority
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
South Africa's DA won 418 seats and about 54% of votes across 25 Western Cape municipalities, with outright majorities in nine councils. Sixteen municipalities require coalition agreements, and the party leadership decided to open talks with other parties, according to IOL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa's main opposition party, won 418 council seats across the 25 municipalities in the Western Cape and about 54% of the combined vote, IOL reported. Sixteen councils remain without an outright majority, forcing the party to negotiate coalitions to form administrations there.
The DA's federal executive committee decided on Saturday 7 November to open talks with parties in municipalities where no formation secured a majority. In a statement by its federal chairman Ashor Sarupen, the party said it would be the largest force in most of these councils, often with a significant lead over its nearest competitor.
The DA is well ahead of the ANC, which won 130 seats in the province, and the Patriotic Alliance (PA), credited with 91 seats. The party holds an outright majority in nine Western Cape municipalities. For the negotiations, the DA said it would talk to parties sharing its commitment to clean and accountable governance, the fight against corruption, respect for the rule of law and non-racialism.
This comes after the DA launched municipal coalition talks on 8 November, amid the ANC leading nationally with 31% of the vote and Jacob Zuma's MK negotiating separately with the ANC in eThekwini to keep the DA out.
