Two parties are eating away at DA support

Recent municipal by-elections in Gauteng and the Western Cape have shown that parties are beginning to eat away at the support of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in what were once its strongholds.

In George in the Western Cape, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) skyrocketed to win two seats off the DA, going from 1% to 60% in Ward 17.

The PA won Ward 27 by just over 60 votes, with 51% compared to the DA’s 49%. In the ward’s last by-election, the PA won only 18%, indicating impressive growth.

Meanwhile, in Centurion in Gauteng, the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) is proud of its performance, narrowly losing out to the DA in what was previously the blue party’s stronghold.

In Ward 57, the DA’s support dropped from 59% to 53%, narrowly holding onto the ward, while the FF Plus’s support increased from 16% to 44%.

The FF Plus came within about 250 votes of taking over the ward. This was a significant increase in votes from 16.11% in the 2021 local elections.

The ANC suffered a brutal defeat in these wards, receiving less than 1% of the vote in George and dropping from 8% to 2% in Tshwane.

Both the PA and the FF Plus celebrated the significant achievements. FF Plus called the result a “giant leap forward” for the party.

FF Plus gives DA a scare in Tshwane

“44,38% of voters supported the Freedom Front Plus candidate, Wesley Jacobs, compared to 54,20% supporting the DA’s Jack Page,” the FF Plus said.

The party added, however, that “the Freedom Front Plus still won two of the three polling stations – a clear sign of growing support.”

It said that, for Jacobs, the results crown his efforts, and although he did not win, he cannot wait to get back to work.

Speaking to Newsday, Jacobs credits his party’s hard work and unique values for its growth in support.

“The main reason for the shift is due to the fact that the ward finally received true service delivery for the first time in two terms, or 10 years,” he said.

“The residents, for the first time, witnessed firsthand hard work, long hours and actual commitment to the community.”

He added that the party is driven by Christian values, which, unlike other parties, gives the FF Plus an anchor for its morals and ethics.

“We will continue to recruit like-minded residents who choose to join our mission to restore communities, rebuild infrastructure and reignite hope,” he said.

Political analyst Wayne Sussman, commenting on the results in an interview with BizNews, said that the FF Plus actually beat the DA in two Lyttleton voting districts, which should concern the DA.

“The DA will be greatly concerned about its fall. What saved the DA was the area of Die Hoewes, where they are usually relatively the weakest,” he said.

The PA takes George

Meanwhile, the PA celebrated its success in George, with newly elected ward councillor Marchell Kleynhans calling himself the “Mandela of Pacaltsdorp” in a speech following the vote.

Kleynhans was previously a DA councillor before joining the PA.

Sussman described the PA as a “behemoth” party that has grown immensely, taking votes from the DA.

“The George Municipality is the third most populous in the Western Cape,” he said. “So this is a municipality which clearly does matter.”

Sussman said that the PA won the vote in Ward 27 by winning districts in the most populous areas of the ward.

Additionally, he said: “Key in this by-election was that the GOOD Party and the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI) did not contest. The last time these parties contested, GOOD won 26%, and PBI won 19%. That’s almost half the vote.”

He added that an overwhelming amount of these voters went to the PA, while some went to the DA.

The analyst deduced that the PA’s ability to win votes and wards from the DA is built mainly on its success in energising new voters and winning votes from smaller parties.

The DA, meanwhile, celebrated the victory without reference to the narrow margin of its success. “The outcome of this by-election only serves to prove that we are on the right track as we head toward the local government election later this year,” said DA Gauteng North Regional Chairperson, Crezane Bosch.

Sussman added that the DA came into 2026 with hopes of making a “big splash”, but that it should now be very concerned about its decline in suburban strongholds being challenged by the PA and the FF Plus, not the ANC.