Saldanha Bay Local Municipality elections

The Saldanha Bay Local Municipality consists of twenty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fourteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fourteen wards, while the remaining thirteen are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a plurality of thirteen seats on the council.

Results

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.

Event	ANC	DA	IND	Other	Total
2000 election	9	9	1	1	20
2002 floor-crossing	9	7	1	3	20
2004 floor-crossing	9	7	0	4	20
2006 election	9	6	2	6	23
2007 floor-crossing	10	6	1	6	23
2011 election	8	15	1	1	25
2016 election	8	17	0	2	27
2021 election	6	13	0	8	27

December 2000 election

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[1]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	7,706	45.12	4	8,553	50.31	5	9
	Democratic Alliance	7,395	43.30	5	7,589	44.64	4	9
	Independent candidates	1,055	6.18	1				1
	South African Political Alliance	528	3.09	0	435	2.56	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	396	2.32	0	423	2.49	0	0
Total		17,080	100.00	10	17,000	100.00	10	20

Valid votes		17,080	98.14		17,000	97.68
Invalid/blank votes		324	1.86		403	2.32
Total votes		17,404	100.00		17,403	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		29,863	58.28		29,863	58.28

October 2002 floor crossing

In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and the judgment of the Constitutional Court in United Democratic Movement v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, in the period from 8–22 October 2002 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats. In the Saldanha Bay council the Democratic Alliance (DA) lost two councillors to the New National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA.^[2]

	Seats before	Net change	Seats after
African National Congress	9	0	9
Democratic Alliance	9	2	7
New National Party	–	2	2
South African Political Alliance	1	0	1
Independent	1	0	1

September 2004 floor crossing

Another floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004. The independent councillor joined the United Democratic Movement.^[3]

	Seats before	Net change	Seats after
African National Congress	9	0	9
Democratic Alliance	7	0	7
New National Party	2	0	2
South African Political Alliance	1	0	1
United Democratic Movement	–	1	1
Independent	1	1	0

March 2006 election

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[4]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	7,713	37.43	6	8,089	40.16	3	9
	Democratic Alliance	5,584	27.10	4	5,818	28.89	2	6
	Independent Democrats	2,741	13.30	0	3,298	16.37	3	3
	South African Political Alliance	1,135	5.51	0	1,094	5.43	1	1
	United Independent Front	940	4.56	0	913	4.53	1	1
	Independent candidates	1,764	8.56	2				2
	African Christian Democratic Party	411	1.99	0	483	2.40	1	1
	United Democratic Movement	316	1.53	0	446	2.21	0	0
Total		20,604	100.00	12	20,141	100.00	11	23

Valid votes		20,604	98.60		20,141	96.47
Invalid/blank votes		292	1.40		736	3.53
Total votes		20,896	100.00		20,877	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		38,131	54.80		38,131	54.75

By-elections from March 2006 to August 2007

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the election in March 2006 and the floor crossing period in September 2007.^[5]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
23 May 2007	7		African National Congress		Independent^{[Note 1]}

September 2007 floor crossing

The final floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2007; floor-crossing was subsequently abolished in 2008 by the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In the Saldanha Bay council, two of the independent councillors joined the African National Congress, and the single councillor from the United Independent Front crossed to the National People's Party.^[6]

	Seats before	Net change	Seats after
African National Congress	8	2	10
Democratic Alliance	6	0	6
Independent Democrats	3	0	3
Independent	3	2	1
South African Political Alliance	1	0	1
African Christian Democratic Party	1	0	1
National People's Party	—	1	1
United Independent Front	1	1	0

May 2011 election

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[7]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Democratic Alliance	15,937	54.14	9	17,270	60.49	6	15
	African National Congress	8,479	28.80	3	9,271	32.47	5	8
	Independent candidates	3,109	10.56	1				1
	Congress of the People	341	1.16	0	397	1.39	1	1
	Service to Our People's Party	397	1.35	0	330	1.16	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	228	0.77	0	236	0.83	0	0
	Liberal People's Party	227	0.77	0	208	0.73	0	0
	Local Government Party	233	0.79	0	198	0.69	0	0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation	172	0.58	0	171	0.60	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	74	0.25	0	178	0.62	0	0
	South African Political Alliance	110	0.37	0	79	0.28	0	0
	National People's Party	70	0.24	0	81	0.28	0	0
	South African Progressive Civic Organisation	59	0.20	0	75	0.26	0	0
	Cape Party				57	0.20	0	0
Total		29,436	100.00	13	28,551	100.00	12	25

Valid votes		29,436	98.51		28,551	95.42
Invalid/blank votes		445	1.49		1,371	4.58
Total votes		29,881	100.00		29,922	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		47,173	63.34		47,173	63.43

By-elections from May 2011 to August 2016

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in May 2011 and August 2016.^[5]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
28 March 2012	12		African National Congress		African National Congress
19 February 2014	9		Independent		African National Congress

August 2016 election

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[8]^[9]^[10]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Democratic Alliance	21,207	60.00	11	21,661	62.32	6	17
	African National Congress	10,306	29.16	3	10,361	29.81	5	8
	Economic Freedom Fighters	693	1.96	0	701	2.02	1	1
	Saldanha Bay Residents Alliance	634	1.79	0	499	1.44	1	1
	Khoisan Revolution	483	1.37	0	525	1.51	0	0
	Independent candidates	988	2.80	0				0
	Freedom Front Plus	327	0.93	0	309	0.89	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	213	0.60	0	238	0.68	0	0
	National Democratic Party	210	0.59	0	133	0.38	0	0
	Service to Our People's Party	142	0.40	0	144	0.41	0	0
	Ubuntu Party	73	0.21	0	68	0.20	0	0
	Cape Party	30	0.08	0	38	0.11	0	0
	United Democratic Movement				58	0.17	0	0
	Nationalist Coloured Party	37	0.10	0				0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation				23	0.07	0	0
Total		35,343	100.00	14	34,758	100.00	13	27

Valid votes		35,343	97.76		34,758	97.57
Invalid/blank votes		809	2.24		866	2.43
Total votes		36,152	100.00		35,624	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		56,767	63.68		56,767	62.75

By-elections from August 2016 to November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in August 2016 and November 2021.^[5]

Date	Ward
30 May 2018	3	Democratic Alliance	Democratic Alliance
12 December 2018	5	Democratic Alliance	Democratic Alliance
18 September 2019	14	Democratic Alliance	Democratic Alliance
11 November 2020^{[Note 2]}	13	Democratic Alliance	Democratic Alliance

November 2021 election

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Democratic Alliance	14,190	45.63	10	14,524	47.05	3	13
	African National Congress	6,613	21.27	4	6,809	22.06	2	6
	Good	4,329	13.92	0	4,230	13.70	4	4
	Freedom Front Plus	1,546	4.97	0	1,334	4.32	1	1
	Patriotic Alliance	1,365	4.39	0	1,309	4.24	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	933	3.00	0	988	3.20	1	1
	Cape Coloured Congress	436	1.40	0	441	1.43	1	1
	Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party	415	1.33	0	458	1.48	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	418	1.34	0	389	1.26	0	0
	Cape Independence Party	220	0.71	0	230	0.75	0	0
	Independent candidates	424	1.36	0				0
	Conservative Party	123	0.40	0	82	0.27	0	0
	Africa Restoration Alliance	61	0.20	0	52	0.17	0	0
	Spectrum National Party	22	0.07	0	25	0.08	0	0
Total		31,095	100.00	14	30,871	100.00	13	27

Valid votes		31,095	99.18		30,871	98.46
Invalid/blank votes		257	0.82		483	1.54
Total votes		31,352	100.00		31,354	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		61,441	51.03		61,441	51.03
Source: Electoral Commission^[11]^[12]^[13]

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from the election in November 2021.

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
6 December 2023^[14]	9		African National Congress		Economic Freedom Fighters

The African National Congress (ANC) councillor for ward 9 was assassinated, leading to a by-election. Only two parties stood, the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The EFF claimed victory after the ANC's share of the vote dropped 72% to 43%, while the EFF's increased from 15% to 57%.^[14]

Notes

^ The former councillor was re-elected to the ward as an independent.
^ By-election was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

^ "Local Government Elections 2000 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
^ "2002 Detailed Floor Crossing Report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
^ "2004 Floor Crossing - Summary report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
^ "Local Government Elections 2006 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ "2007 Floor Crossing - Summary report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
^ "Local Government Elections 2011 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
^ "Results Summary – All Ballots: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "Voter Turnout Report: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "Results Summary – All Ballots: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Voter Turnout Report: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b Sussman, Wayne (7 December 2023). "EFF beats ANC for major upset in Saldanha Bay by-election". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

[samecllr-indep-6] The former councillor was re-elected to the ward as an independent.

[12] By-election was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[1] "Local Government Elections 2000 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[2] "2002 Detailed Floor Crossing Report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 August 2016.

[3] "2004 Floor Crossing - Summary report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2017.

[4] "Local Government Elections 2006 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[mbe-5] "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 19 November 2021.

[7] "2007 Floor Crossing - Summary report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2017.

[8] "Local Government Elections 2011 - Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

[9] "Results Summary – All Ballots: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[10] "Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[11] "Voter Turnout Report: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[13] "Results Summary – All Ballots: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[14] "Seat Calculation Detail: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[15] "Voter Turnout Report: Saldanha Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[dm_2023_12-16] Sussman, Wayne (7 December 2023). "EFF beats ANC for major upset in Saldanha Bay by-election". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

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