George Local Municipality elections

The George Local Municipality council consists of fifty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-seven wards, while the remaining twenty-six 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 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council. The DA did, however, win the largest amount of seats.

Results

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

Event	ACDP	ANC	DA	EFF	FF+	PBI	Other
2000 election	—	14	17	—	—	—	4
2006 election	1	17	18	—	1	—	2
2011 election	1	19	25	—	0	1	3
2016 election	1	16	29	1	1	2	3
2021 election	1	10	26	2	4	5	7

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
	Democratic Alliance	13,781	47.10	8	14,182	48.72	9	17
	African National Congress	11,534	39.42	9	11,505	39.52	5	14
	George Community Initiative	2,381	8.14	1	2,137	7.34	2	3
	Community Initiative	1,090	3.73	0	971	3.34	1	1
	United Democratic Movement	197	0.67	0	316	1.09	0	0
	Independent candidates	278	0.95	0				0
Total		29,261	100.00	18	29,111	100.00	17	35
Valid votes		29,261	98.46		29,111	97.91
Invalid/blank votes		457	1.54		620	2.09
Total votes		29,718	100.00		29,731	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		55,293	53.75		55,293	53.77

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 George council, the three councillors of the George Community Initiative crossed to the Democratic Alliance. ^[2]

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	Democratic Alliance	17	3	20
	African National Congress	14	0	14
	Community Initiative	1	0	1
	George Community Initiative	3	3	0

September 2004 floor crossing

Another floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004, in which two councillors crossed from the Democratic Alliance to the African National Congress. ^[3]

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	Democratic Alliance	20	2	18
	African National Congress	14	2	16
	Community Initiative	1	0	1

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
	Democratic Alliance	17,017	45.61	13	17,266	46.26	5	18
	African National Congress	16,151	43.29	7	16,035	42.96	10	17
	Independent Democrats	1,611	4.32	0	1,612	4.32	2	2
	African Christian Democratic Party	605	1.62	0	572	1.53	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	533	1.43	0	512	1.37	1	1
	Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa	423	1.13	0	398	1.07	0	0
	George Independent Forum	413	1.11	0	367	0.98	0	0
	Community Initiative	299	0.80	0	283	0.76	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	112	0.30	0	278	0.74	0	0
	Independent candidates	143	0.38	0				0
Total		37,307	100.00	20	37,323	100.00	19	39
Valid votes		37,307	98.84		37,323	98.82
Invalid/blank votes		439	1.16		447	1.18
Total votes		37,746	100.00		37,770	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		68,604	55.02		68,604	55.06

By-elections from March 2006 to May 2011

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in March 2006 and May 2011. ^[5]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
15 November 2006	3		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance [Note 1]
5 December 2007	3		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance [Note 1]
21 May 2008	5		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
	8		Democratic Alliance		Independent Democrats
6 May 2009	1		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
24 June 2009	19		Democratic Alliance		Independent

May 2011 election

Main article: 2011 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election. ^[6]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	28,155	50.55	16	28,491	51.01	9	25
	African National Congress	21,720	39.00	9	22,156	39.66	10	19
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners	1,668	2.99	0	1,573	2.82	1	1
	Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa	927	1.66	0	851	1.52	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	786	1.41	0	696	1.25	1	1
	George Independent Ratepayers Forum	813	1.46	0	568	1.02	1	1
	Congress of the People	511	0.92	0	515	0.92	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	436	0.78	0	370	0.66	0	0
	National People's Party	250	0.45	0	237	0.42	0	0
	South Cape Community Forum	134	0.24	0	113	0.20	0	0
	Independent candidates	209	0.38	0				0
	United Democratic Movement	75	0.13	0	134	0.24	0	0
	Ou Pacaltsdorp Inwoners Vereniging				155	0.28	0	0
	African People's Convention	14	0.03	0				0
Total		55,698	100.00	25	55,859	100.00	24	49
Valid votes		55,698	98.69		55,859	99.02
Invalid/blank votes		737	1.31		555	0.98
Total votes		56,435	100.00		56,414	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		90,601	62.29		90,601	62.27

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
22 May 2013	6		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
3 July 2013	14		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
7 August 2013	1		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance

August 2016 election

Main article: 2016 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election. ^[7]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	33,098	55.13	18	33,321	55.74	11	29
	African National Congress	17,633	29.37	9	17,348	29.02	7	16
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners	1,983	3.30	0	2,024	3.39	2	2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,514	2.52	0	1,485	2.48	1	1
	Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa	1,483	2.47	0	1,505	2.52	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	1,029	1.71	0	955	1.60	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	877	1.46	0	782	1.31	1	1
	African Independent Congress	693	1.15	0	850	1.42	1	1
	South Africa Civics	724	1.21	0	755	1.26	1	1
	Christian Democrats	188	0.31	0	208	0.35	0	0
	Independent candidates	394	0.66	0				0
	Democratic New Civic Association	156	0.26	0	211	0.35	0	0
	South African Religious Civic Organisation	134	0.22	0	138	0.23	0	0
	George Independent Ratepayers Forum	93	0.15	0	92	0.15	0	0
	Christian United Movement S.A.	30	0.05	0	57	0.10	0	0
	Ubuntu Party	3	0.00	0	45	0.08	0	0
Total		60,032	100.00	27	59,776	100.00	26	53
Valid votes		60,032	98.65		59,776	98.51
Invalid/blank votes		823	1.35		904	1.49
Total votes		60,855	100.00		60,680	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		100,886	60.32		100,886	60.15

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	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
1 February 2017	11		Democratic Alliance		African National Congress
	25		African National Congress		African National Congress
25 April 2018	18		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
21 November 2018	3		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
10 April 2019	18		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
17 July 2019	20		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
11 November 2020 [Note 2]	8		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
	14		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
	17		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance
	27		Democratic Alliance		Good

November 2021 election

Main article: 2021 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election. ^[8]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	24,875	46.01	16	25,088	46.89	10	26
	African National Congress	9,709	17.96	9	9,439	17.64	1	10
	Good	5,665	10.48	3	5,566	10.40	3	6
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners	5,385	9.96	0	5,275	9.86	5	5
	Freedom Front Plus	3,690	6.82	0	3,451	6.45	4	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,605	2.97	0	1,553	2.90	2	2
	Patriotic Alliance	814	1.51	0	913	1.71	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	851	1.57	0	821	1.53	1	1
	Cape Independence Party	268	0.50	0	265	0.50	0	0
	Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa	266	0.49	0	266	0.50	0	0
	African Independent Congress	107	0.20	0	197	0.37	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	150	0.28	0	152	0.28	0	0
	United Independent Movement	120	0.22	0	116	0.22	0	0
	Active United Front	103	0.19	0	99	0.19	0	0
	The Organic Humanity Movement	102	0.19	0	97	0.18	0	0
	Compatriots of South Africa	91	0.17	0	79	0.15	0	0
	African People's Convention	84	0.16	0	53	0.10	0	0
	Independent candidates	137	0.25	0				0
	Africa Restoration Alliance	45	0.08	0	46	0.09	0	0
	Spectrum National Party	3	0.01	0	25	0.05	0	0
	African Freedom Revolution				7	0.01	0	0
Total		54,070	100.00	28	53,508	100.00	27	55
Valid votes		54,070	98.92		53,508	98.84
Invalid/blank votes		588	1.08		627	1.16
Total votes		54,658	100.00		54,135	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		106,525	51.31		106,525	50.82

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since the election in November 2021. ^[5]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
19 July 2023	16		Good		Democratic Alliance
19 July 2023	20		Good		Patriotic Alliance
19 July 2023	27		Good		Democratic Alliance
14 February 2024 [9]	8		Democratic Alliance		Patriotic Alliance

The three Good ward councillors (the party's only ward councillors in the country) resigned, with two joining the Democratic Alliance (DA) and one of the three, Richard Hector, a two-term ward councillor, attempting to reverse his decision. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declared that he had resigned, and so three by-elections needed to be held. The by-elections were marred by allegations of voter registration fraud, with Good claiming that, in one instance, 188 people were registered at the same address in spite of only two people living there. The IEC dismissed the claims and the by-elections went ahead. ^[10] Good lost all three seats, with two going to the DA, and one to the Patriotic Alliance (PA). ^[11]

As a result, the DA, which governed in coalition with Freedom Front Plus (FF+), gained a majority of 28 seats (up from 26) of the 55 available seats, Good fell to 3 from 6, and the PA increased from 1 to 2.

The DA lost its majority after the by-election on 14 February 2024 when it lost ward 8 to the PA, and will have to govern with the support of the FF+ once more. ^[9]

The council composition as of 14 February 2024 is shown below.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance			17			10	27
	African National Congress			9			1	10
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners			0			5	5
	Freedom Front Plus			0			4	4
	Good			0			3	3
	Patriotic Alliance			2			1	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters			0			2	2
	African Christian Democratic Party			0			1	1
Total				28			27	55

Notes

1. Elected uncontested as no other candidates were nominated.
2. By-election was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

1. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — George". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 14 November 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. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — George". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
5. "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
6. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — George". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
7. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — George". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
8. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — George". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
9. Sussman, Wayne (15 February 2024). "MK party snatches votes from ANC in second Zululand scare". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
10. Payne, Suné (19 July 2023). "GROUND LEVEL REPORT : George by-elections go ahead despite community conflict, claims of voter fraud, court losses and rain". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
11. Sussman, Wayne (20 July 2023). "JULY BY-ELECTIONS : ANC weathers Mangaung challenge, PA makes inroads in George as IFP exerts dominance in KZN wards". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2023.