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2024 Western Cape provincial election

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2024 Western Cape provincial election

← 2019 29 May 2024 2029 →

All 42 seats to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament
22 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Alan Winde Cameron Dugmore Gayton McKenzie
Party DA ANC Patriotic Alliance
Last election 55.45% 28.64% (Did not contest)
Seats before 24 12 0
Seats won 24 8 3
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 4 Increase 3
Popular vote 1,088,423 384,853 153,607
Percentage 55.30% 19.55% 7.80%
Swing Decrease 0.15% Decrease 9.09% Increase 7.80%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Candidate Aishah Cassiem Fadiel Adams Corné Mulder
Party Economic Freedom Fighters National Coloured Congress Freedom Front Plus
Last election 4.04% (Did not contest) (Did not contest)
Seats before 2 0 1
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 1 Steady 0
Popular vote 104,354 46,770 28,471
Percentage 5.30% 2.38% 1.45%
Swing Increase 1.26% Increase 2.28% Decrease 0.11%

Results by municipality

Premier before election

Alan Winde
Democratic Alliance

Elected Premier

Alan Winde
Democratic Alliance

The 2024 Western Cape provincial election was held on 29 May 2024, concurrently with the 2024 South African general election, to elect the 42 members of the 7th Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

Background

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The previous provincial election was won by the ruling Democratic Alliance (DA), but with a reduced majority of 55.45%, down from 59.38% in the 2014 election. The party lost two seats and achieved a majority of 24 seats in the legislature. The Official Opposition African National Congress (ANC) declined from 32.89% to 28.64%, and also lost two seats. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) significantly grew, going from 2.11% to 4.04%, and, consequently, gained one seat. The newly-formed Good received 3.11% of the vote and won a seat. The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) grew to 2.66% and retained its sole seat. The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and Al Jama-ah also won one seat each.

Issues

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Devolution of policing

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Over the last term of government, the devolution of policing power has become a key issue between the Western Cape Government and the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.[1] The Western Cape Government argues that the Minister has the power to devolve policing, but the Minister denies having the power of devolution, saying that "the centralisation of the SAPS [is] in line with the Department [of Police's] constitutional mandate to prevent, combat and investigate crime..."[2] Section 205 of the Constitution of South Africa sets out policing policy in South Africa, noting that the police service "must be structured to function in national [and] provincial...spheres of government."[3] The Constitution gives provincial executives the power to monitor police conduct within their respective provinces, as well as the responsibility for policing functions in three cases; namely Chapter 11 of the Constitution, assigned to provincial government in terms of national legislation and allocated to it in national policing policy.[3]

The African Growth and Opportunity Act

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The Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde and a Western Cape Government delegation made a trip to the United States to detail the possible impact that a loss of preferential access to the U.S. market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act would have on the agricultural industry in the province, largely in response to increased U.S. scrutiny over the South African government's increased military co-operation with Russia and China and potential co-operation with Iran.[4][5][6] The Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, Cameron Dugmore (ANC) accused the provincial government of wasting taxpayer's money, saying "this trip was about the DA's desperation to secure support for the 2024 elections by creating a certain narrative about this matter".[7]

Cape independence

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The Freedom Front Plus and the Referendum Party contested the election with Cape independence as part of their platform. The Referendum Party was formed in November 2023 as a single-issue political party aiming to pressure the Western Cape Democratic Alliance government into holding a referendum on Western Cape independence as part of any potential coalition agreement.[8] The Cape Independence Party, which had contested in 2009 and 2019, did not make it on to the national ballot or the Western Cape provincial ballot, while the Referendum Party made it on to all three.[9][10][11]

Results

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PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Democratic Alliance1,088,42355.58–0.1240
African National Congress384,85319.65–9.18–4
Patriotic Alliance153,6077.84New3New
Economic Freedom Fighters104,3545.33 +1.320
National Coloured Congress46,7702.39New1New
Freedom Front Plus28,4711.45 -0.110
Al Jama-ah25,5371.30 +1.310
African Christian Democratic Party25,3631.30 -1.410
Good22,2071.13-1.910
uMkhonto we Sizwe11,2630.58New0New
Rise Mzansi9,9540.51New0New
Africa Restoration Alliance8,3180.42New0New
Build One South Africa8,0280.41New0New
Pan Africanist Congress6,1510.31+0.100
United Democratic Movement5,9330.30000
ActionSA5,7880.30New0New
African Transformation Movement5,5810.28000
Referendum Party5,1100.26New0New
People's Movement for Change5,0740.26New0New
Allied Movement for Change5,0650.26New0New
Allied of Citizens for Change2,4300.12New0New
Total1,958,280100.0042
Valid votes1,958,28099.25
Invalid/blank votes14,8740.75
Total votes1,973,154100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,317,07259.48
Source: Daily Maverick and News24

Aftermath

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The DA retained its majority, while the ANC lost four seats, with the Patriotic Alliance and the National Coloured Congress, both new parties, gaining seats at the expense of the ANC, and other incumbent parties retaining their share of seats from the previous Provincial Parliament. Winde was re-elected premier by a vote of 24-18.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Charles, Marvin. "Cele says Western Cape govt's demand for devolution of police powers is just 'a lot of noise'". News24. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  2. ^ Sokutu, Brian (2021-09-10). "Battle over devolution of Saps continues". The Citizen. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  3. ^ a b Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1997. Available at: https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf Archived 4 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed on 03 January 2024.
  4. ^ Fabricius, Peter (2023-11-03). "S Africa's links with Hamas and Iran pose new threat to Agoa". Daily Maverick. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  5. ^ "Premier Winde pushes for SA's AGOA's reauthorisation in US visit". Western Cape Government. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  6. ^ "Exercise MOSI II underway in South Africa". Military Africa. 2023-02-23. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  7. ^ Maqhina, Mayibongwe (20 June 2023). "Winde's office tight-lipped on cost of US trip to 'save' Agoa". IOL. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Challenging political norms: Referendum Party versus DA in the Western Cape". BizNews. 2023-11-26. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ^ "Self-determination is the issue of the year in the Western Cape". 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  10. ^ Bourdin, Julie. "CapeXit? Separatists Bid To Split South Africa". Barron's. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  11. ^ "CapeXit – Own your future | Besit jou toekoms". Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-02.