Cape Town — The DA recorded the outright majority in three municipalities across the province — Berg River, Swartland and Hessequa — as the counting process for the local government elections continued on Tuesday night.
IEC Western Cape electoral officer Michael Hendrickse said the DA had more than 52% of votes in the province.
DA interim leader in the province, Albert Fritz said they were happy with the results, adding that they also received confirmation that two more municipalities had been added to that list.
“We are elated at the fact that we have now won five municipalities namely Bergriver, Swartland, Hessequa, Mossel Bay and Overstrand.
“Mossel Bay is one of our big municipalities with economic powers and it's always a positive story with the wins.
“On the results of other municipalities we will be waiting with our national counterparts and then discuss exactly what we are going to do as a way forward and decide if we want to remain in opposition or go into government,” said Fritz.
In an update, the IEC said the Northern Cape had completed 74% of its results, followed by the Western Cape at 46% and the Free State at 26%.
The IEC confirmed that 90% of its results will be finalised by Tuesday evening.
Hendrickse said they could not forecast how many people had cast their votes in the local government elections, and they were waiting for an actual ballot count to confirm voter turnout.
Cape Times