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Newsbrief

DA says it will keep Western Cape with about 51%

Published

DA Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen said early results look strong while votes were still being counted in the local government elections. He also claimed the party is making gains in townships, informal settlements and rural areas.

Sarupen spoke on CapeTalk during the count. He said the DA is confident of keeping more than 50% of the Western Cape vote and predicted about 51%. He said it was too early to call individual municipalities.

Sarupen claimed the DA leads in Kopanong, a mainly black, rural municipality in the Free State. He also claimed the party has won support from the ANC in several municipalities in southern Gauteng. He said the DA could get a larger share than the EFF in townships, rural villages and large informal settlements.

Early national projections from the CSIR put the ANC at around 31% and the DA at around 26%. The CSIR released them when about 11% of voting districts had been counted. The ANC won about 46% nationally in the previous vote.

Key facts

Who
Ashor Sarupen (DA Federal Council chairperson); Democratic Alliance (political party contesting the local government elections); CSIR (source of early national projections); ANC (political party; projected at around 31% nationally)
What
Speaking on CapeTalk during the vote count, DA Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen said early Western Cape results looked strong, predicted about 51% of the provincial vote, and claimed inroads into townships, informal settlements and rural areas. He cautioned that it was too early for definitive calls on individual municipalities.
When
5 November 2026
Where
Western Cape, City of Cape Town, Free State
Status
Reported

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Voting stations in KwaZulu-Natal closed at 9:00pm on 4 November and counting began, with police saying pockets of political intolerance did not break the calm. Early results show the ANC leading with 19 seats and the DA with seven, after over 5% of votes were counted.

Earlier, about 12 million voters had cast ballots by 5:00pm, a turnout of 44% before special votes, after 98% of the 23,696 stations opened by 7am. Problems did arise: some Cape Metro voters said they waited up to six hours, and the IEC said it fixed faulty devices and added staff.

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President Donald Trump said on 5 November that the Iran war was needed to stop Tehran getting a nuclear weapon, though he admitted it contributed to Republican losses. Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the 3 November midterm elections, according to media projections, as exit polls showed voters angry about high prices.

The Senate majority came after projected upsets, including James Talarico beating Republican Ken Paxton in Texas. Iranian officials said US voters had rejected the war, while Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

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