The votes have been counted and in the City of Cape Town municipality, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken the lead with 66.61 percent of the votes and 154 seats; the ANC has come in second with 24.36% and 57 seats and the EFF in third place with 3.17% and seven seats.
A bit closer to home, the DA won all seven wards in the Southern Mail’s distribution area, which includes wards 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 72 and 110.
The ANC came second in all seven wards, which cover Ottery, Grassy Park, Lotus River, Retreat, Steenberg, Lavender Hill and surrounding informal settlements, Vrygrond and some parts of Wynberg.
The EFF didn’t fare quite as well in the wards as they did in the municipality.
While they came in third in the metro, they only managed to place third in one of the seven wards in the Southern Mail’s distribution area, along with Al-Jama-ah who also came third in one of the wards.
The ACDP took third place in the other five wards, with 1.21 percent and three seats in the City of Cape Town.
Councillors Monty Oliver, Shanen Rossouw, Marita Petersen and Kevin Southgate were re-elected. Newly elected councillors Patricia van de Ross and William Akim might be new to the ward councillor positions, but are not unfamiliar to the community as the two were PR councillors for Ward 67 and Ward 66 respectively before the elections. Newcomer Gerry Gordon, who is a community leader and founder of Mothers Unite, an NPO in St Montagu Village has taken up her position as councillor for Ward 67 with lots of confidence. Ms Gordon was overjoyed with the result of the election.
“It is encouraging to know that people have faith in me. I think my history as a community worker stood me in good stead and it truly humbles me to have been elected by the majority of the community,” she said.
Asked what difference she wants to make in the community now that she is councillor, she said she wants to make “good things possible”.
“I want to add value and also replace some dignity by providing services. I want to be accessible to my community and I want to go the extra mile and make a difference in as many people’s lives as possible,” said Ms Gordon.
Mr Oliver, who was Sub-council 18 chairperson, said he felt good about the outcome of the elections.
“The fact that I was re-elected shows that the majority of voters were satisfied with the previous term,” he said.
Asked what he would like to improve within the ward this term, he said he hopes to do better with regards to service delivery.
“There’s always room for improvement. I know there have been a few complaints from people who said the councillors are not reachable but people are more than welcome to contact me at any time with regards to services,” said Mr Oliver.
Asked what issues he was looking to tackle first this term, he said safety and security are top of the list.
“We as the City can only do so much relating to crime in our wards but I know it is an issue that needs to be addressed so I will work closely with the police as well as City law agencies to address residents’ concerns.”
Mr Southgate, who was re-elected as Ward 72 councillor, said he was honoured that residents chose him.
“I am very honoured that residents in ward 72 have shown confidence in me. We asked the community to lend us their vote for another five years and we appreciate that they did so.
I am looking forward to working with the commnity for next five years,” he said.
Asked what his plans are for the ward, Mr Southgate said service delivery is top of his priority list.
“The overall plan is to ensure that the ward receives quality service delevery. I will engage with relavent role players to assess the needs in the community and I encourage residents to get in contact with me about their concerns,” he said.
Southern Mail tried to contact the other successful ward councillors in the area, but they did not respond by the time this edition went to print.
Here are the voting statistics for each ward:
Ward 63: Wetton, Plumstead, Wynberg, Ottery, Fairways and Golf Links Estate
Ward councillor: Monty Oliver
Total votes cast: 13 836
Spoiled ballots: 119
Total PR votes cast: 13 696
Spoiled ballots: 186
The DA took 83.84 percent of the votes, the ANC 5.45 percent and Al-Jama-ah 2.32 percent.
Ward 65: Lotus River and Grassy Park
Ward councillor: Patricia van de Ross
Total votes cast: 12 405
Spoiled ballots: 87
Total PR votes cast: 12 104
Spoiled ballots: 169
The DA took 82.25 percent of the votes, the ANC 6.24 percent and ACDP 2.35 percent.
Ward 66: Ottery, Parkwood, Lotus River (South of Carrol Road, George Road, West of Strandfontein Road, North of Klip Road, east of Acacia Road).
Ward councillor: William Akim
Total votes cast: 11 599
Spoiled ballots: 89
Total PR votes cast: 11 671
Spoiled ballots: 132
The DA took 86.35 percent of the votes, the ANC 3.25 percent and the ACDP 1.86 percent.
Ward 67: Zeekoeivlei, Lotus River (South of Oribi, West of Strandfontein Road, North of Bosbok, East of Grysbok, South of 9th, West of Canal, North of Fisherman, East of Lake); Seawinds; Vrygrond; Pelican Park; Pelican Heights and Eagle Park
Ward councillor: Gerry Gordon
Total votes cast: 13 241
Spoiled ballots: 179
Total PR votes cast: 13 248
Spoiled ballots: 205
The DA took 73.06 percent of the votes, the ANC 18.12 percent and the EFF 2.99 percent.
Ward 68: Lavender Hill, Steenberg and Retreat
Ward councillor: Marita Petersen
Total votes cast: 10 056
Spoiled ballots: 99
Total PR votes cast: 10 056
Spoiled ballots: 145
The DA took 88.34 percent of the votes, the ANC 3.75 percent and the ACDP 1.84 percent.
Ward 72: Elfindale, Steenberg, Retreat, Heathfield and Southfield.
Ward councillor: Kevin Southgate
Total votes cast: 12 865
Spoiled ballots: 59
Total PR votes cast: 12 881
Spoiled ballots: 106
The DA took 88.5 percent of the votes, the ANC 4.27 percent and the ACDP 2.55 percent.
Ward 110: Parkwood, Lavender Hill (West of 14th Avenue, North of St Bernard Avenue, St Christopher Avenue, and Hek Street, East of Prince George Drive), Retreat and Grassy Park
Ward councillor: Shanen Rosouw
Total ward votes cast: 9 843
Spoiled ballots: 74
Total PR votes cast: 9 841
Spoiled ballots: 113
The DA took 88.31 percent of the votes, the ANC 3.96 percent and the ACDP 2.35 percent.