Drakenstein passes the ball to the DA
2009-04-30
Anne Kruger
THE election results in Drakenstein have shown a strong swing to the DA, with 40 233 local votes (48,13%) on the provincial ballot going to this party, in line with the results of the rest of the province. However, the ANC coalition’s control of the town council is not affected by the national and provincial ballot - voters will only have their say on the composition of the council in 2011. In Wednesday’s election, the DA increased its local support to nearly half of local voters, while the votes for the ANC dropped sharply to 24 220 (28,97%), with the ID and Cope effectively in a tie for third place. The ID received 8159 votes (9,76%) and Cope got 7835 votes (9,37%). Among the smaller parties, only the ACDP could get past the 1% mark with 1013 votes (1,21%). In the last election held in Drakenstein (for the municipal council), the ANC drew a majority of 42% of the votes, while the DA gained 32% and the ID 16%. This year, the support of the ANC was significantly eroded in Paarl East, dropping to 22%, with 49% of the votes going to the DA. The ID received 14% of the votes and Cope 13%. But many voters continue to vote along racial lines. In Fairyland, with its large Xhosa speaking population, the ANC received 80% of the votes, followed by Cope (7,59%), the DA (5,7%) and the ID (1,6%). In the traditionally white areas of Paarl West and Denneburg, the DA was by far the majority party, with 87% of the support. The second most popular party in Paarl West was the ACDP (8%), trailed by Cope (5%), and ID (2,3%). In Mbekweni, OR and New Rest the ANC was by far the most popular (82% support), with Cope making a significant impact, drawing 10,9% of voters. In Wellington, the DA majority was a solid 63%, followed by the ANC (12,8%), ID (12,1%) and Cope (9,8%). In the rural areas there was also a significant swing to the DA (44%), with the ANC support dipping to 30%, followed by Cope (12%) and the ID (11%). In Saron, the ID gained the majority with 625 votes (44,8%), followed by the DA at 351 (25%), the ANC with 253 (18%) and Cope at 146 (10,4%). Gouda remains an ANC stronghold, receiving 558 votes (47,8%), outperforming the DA’s 283 (24%), the ID’s 183 (15,68%) and Cope’s 111 votes (9,5%). There was a 76% turnout for the election (up from 70% in 2004), with a total of 84 964 successful ballots, and 852 spoilt ballots. On the national ballot, the DA received 39 125 votes (46,05%) in Drakenstein, the ANC got 25 505 votes (30,02%), Cope was third with 8856 (10,42%) and the ID came in fourth with 8090 votes (9,52%). The ACDP got 1101 (1,3% of the votes) and the Vryheidsfront received 869 votes (1,02%). .
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