Blue Crane Route Local Municipality elections

The Blue Crane Route Local Municipality council consists of eleven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in six wards, while the remaining five 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 African National Congress (ANC) won a reduced majority of six seats.

Results

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

Event	ANC	DA	EFF	Other	Total
2000 election	7	3	—	0	10
2002 floor-crossing	7	2	—	1	10
2006 election	8	2	—	0	10
2011 election	7	4	—	0	11
2016 election	7	4	0	—	11
2021 election	6	4	1	0	11

December 2000 election

Main article: 2000 South African municipal elections

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

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	5,944	70.20	5	5,979	70.34	2	7
	Democratic Alliance	2,361	27.88	0	2,271	26.72	3	3
	United Democratic Movement	162	1.91	0	250	2.94	0	0
Total		8,467	100.00	5	8,500	100.00	5	10
Valid votes		8,467	98.12		8,500	98.29
Invalid/blank votes		162	1.88		148	1.71
Total votes		8,629	100.00		8,648	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,808	54.59		15,808	54.71

October 2002 floor crossing

See also: Floor crossing (South Africa)

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 Blue Crane Route council, one councillor crossed from the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the New National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA. ^[2]

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	African National Congress	7	0	7
	Democratic Alliance	3	1	2
	New National Party	–	1	1

By-elections from October 2002 to March 2006

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing period in October 2002 and the election in March 2006. ^[3]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
28 July 2004	2		African National Congress		Democratic Alliance

March 2006 election

Main article: 2006 South African municipal elections

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

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,784	74.36	5	6,795	74.44	3	8
	Democratic Alliance	2,059	22.57	0	2,011	22.03	2	2
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	231	2.53	0	216	2.37	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	49	0.54	0	106	1.16	0	0
Total		9,123	100.00	5	9,128	100.00	5	10
Valid votes		9,123	98.02		9,128	98.08
Invalid/blank votes		184	1.98		179	1.92
Total votes		9,307	100.00		9,307	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		17,453	53.33		17,453	53.33

May 2011 election

Main article: 2011 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election. ^[5]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,203	61.53	5	6,488	65.54	2	7
	Democratic Alliance	3,220	31.94	1	3,411	34.46	3	4
	Independent candidates	659	6.54	0				0
Total		10,082	100.00	6	9,899	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		10,082	97.74		9,899	96.08
Invalid/blank votes		233	2.26		404	3.92
Total votes		10,315	100.00		10,303	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		17,451	59.11		17,451	59.04

August 2016 election

Main article: 2016 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election. ^[6]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,770	61.44	5	6,447	59.41	2	7
	Democratic Alliance	4,028	36.56	1	4,188	38.59	3	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	221	2.01	0	217	2.00	0	0
Total		11,019	100.00	6	10,852	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		11,019	98.63		10,852	98.73
Invalid/blank votes		153	1.37		140	1.27
Total votes		11,172	100.00		10,992	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,372	60.81		18,372	59.83

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. ^[3]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
6 November 2019	2		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance

November 2021 election

Main article: 2021 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election. ^[7]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	5,223	56.25	4	5,260	56.50	2	6
	Democratic Alliance	3,455	37.21	2	3,450	37.06	2	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	582	6.27	0	575	6.18	1	1
	African Transformation Movement	6	0.06	0	25	0.27	0	0
	Independent candidates	20	0.22	0				0
Total		9,286	100.00	6	9,310	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		9,286	98.73		9,310	98.75
Invalid/blank votes		119	1.27		118	1.25
Total votes		9,405	100.00		9,428	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		17,867	52.64		17,867	52.77

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since November 2021. ^[3]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
22 February 2023	2		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
22 February 2023	5		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance

In ward 2, existing DA councillor Archer Heynse's membership was terminated for not settling outstanding 2021 election fees. He applied to have his membership reinstated and again represented the DA, holding onto his seat by 10 votes over the ANC, in what was seen to be a safe seat, with a 25% margin in the 2021 elections.

In ward 5, where the DA had won the ward for the first time in 2021, the councillor also had his membership terminated, but did not stand again. Lorraine Johnson narrowly held on to the marginal seat for the party. ^[8]

References

1. "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — Blue Crane Route". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
2. "2002 Detailed Floor Crossing Report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
3. "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
4. "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — Blue Crane Route". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
5. "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — Blue Crane Route". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
6. "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — Blue Crane Route". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
7. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Blue Crane Route". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
8. Sussman, Wayne (23 February 2023). "FEBRUARY BY-ELECTIONS: Patriotic Alliance delivers more scares, but ANC and DA hang on to seats in Northern and Eastern Cape". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 23 February 2023.