DA By-Election Win Opens Way for Zille to Join Jhb Council

Helen Zille could soon become a city councillor in Johannesburg after the Democratic Alliance (DA) won a by-election in the metro held on Wednesday.

This was one of three by-elections held across the country on Wednesday, with the African National Congress (ANC) defending a seat in Polokwane, while the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) won a seat off the National Freedom Party (NFP) in Nongoma, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The by-election in Johannesburg was held in Bryanston, with the DA easily defending the seat, winning nearly 95% of the vote. This was the second by-election in the ward since the 2021 local government election (LGE). In the 2021 LGE the DA won 71% of the vote, which increased to 95% in the first by-election, which was held in August 2023.

The victory by Bea Campbell-Cloete, the DA’s candidate, means that there is now a vacancy for a DA proportional representation (PR) councillor, which was a position that Campbell-Cloete held before being elected as a ward councillor. This means Zille, who is the DA’s candidate for mayor in the city, could now take up the DA’s PR vacancy on the council, paving the way for her to officially become a Johannesburg city councillor, ahead of the next LGE, due to be held before the end of January next year.

The DA’s victory in Johannesburg comes as an ActionSA PR councillor from Soweto, Mandla Nyaqela, defected to the DA on Thursday. Nyaqela was joined by five ActionSA branch chairs in Soweto, along with 50 other members of the party. Nyaqela said that he had joined ActionSA with high hopes but had become deeply disillusioned. He cited the lack of space for debate within the organisation as the main reason for his dissatisfaction. Nyaqela described ActionSA as a top-down dictatorship, where members' roles were limited to following orders. He pointed out that no positions were elected; instead, they were appointed by one or two leaders at the top. He argued that it is impossible to advocate for democracy while being part of a party that operates in such an undemocratic manner.

The by-election held in Polokwane saw the ANC easily defending a seat, winning 72% of the vote, against the 81% it won in the 2021 LGE. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were the only significant opposition, winning 21% of the vote in the by-election, up from the 14% it won in the 2021 LGE.

In the third by-election held on Wednesday, the IFP took a seat off the NFP in Nongoma, in Zululand. It was the second by-election held in the ward since the 2021 LGE. The NFP had won the seat in the LGE and defended it in the first by-election held in February 2022. However, on Wednesday the IFP took the seat off the NFP. The IFP saw its vote share jump to 59%, from the 41% it won in the 2022 by-election, while the NFP saw its share of the vote tumble from 45% to 12%. The ANC managed 9% in the by-election (down from the 12% it won in 2022) while the uMkhonto weSizwe Party won 16%.

Warwick Grey, senior editor at The Common Sense, speculated that the NFP’s poor performance could be in reaction to the NFP’s withdrawal from the KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity, with voters preferring a stable governing coalition.