Two Western Cape municipalities secure outright majorities
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
Two of the 12 Western Cape municipalities where counting is complete have sufficient majorities to be run by a single party: Swartland and Berg River. The others are expected to form coalitions, while one polling station remains to be counted in Khayelitsha, according to the South African Independent Electoral Commission.
Two of the 12 municipalities in the Western Cape where counting has been completed have an outright political majority, the South African Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) confirmed. They are Swartland and Berg River, where a single party can govern without a coalition, according to IOL.
The other ten municipalities concerned, including Kannaland, Prince Albert, Laingsburg, Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Cape Agulhas and Saldanha, will have to negotiate coalitions to form their executives. They are all within the West Coast district council area, except for the separate information provided on the Cape metropolitan municipality.
Only one polling station remained to be counted in the province, at Mangaliso Primary School in ward 91 of Khayelitsha. Michael Hendrickse, the IEC's electoral director in the Western Cape, said a provincial team had been sent to help local officials complete the count.
The counting of results in the City of Cape Town was also continuing. The metropolitan municipality has 118 wards and 117 proportional-representation seats; about 65% of its results had been processed at the time of the IEC briefing, which hoped to complete the process by midday the following day, subject to the capture and auditing of the results, IOL reports.
