DA retains Bellville, wins 'landslide' in Mitchells Plain
Parow - Ward 2: DA 96.5% ANC 1.3% COPE 2.2%
Mitchell's Plain: DA 79.4% ID 8%
March 26, 2009 Edition 2
Aziz Hartley and Anel Powell
THE Democratic Alliance has retained its Ward 2 seat in Bellville and Parow and tightened its stranglehold on Mitchells Plain with a victory in Ward 79, and although official results were not available late last night, the party said "it is not a landslide, it's an avalanche". Ward 2 became vacant in January when DA councillor Wim van der Bijl died.
Cope's candidate, Vincent Swart, said his party wanted to test its support among white voters and gauge its strength against that of the ANC.
In Ward 79, which included Beacon Valley, Eastridge and Portlands, DA candidate Dennis Williams, who crossed from the Independent Democrats, leading to the by-election, won the seat. Conceding defeat, ID provincial secretary Rodney Lentitt said: "They have it (Ward 79). They have won the ward."
Cope's Ward 79 candidate, Haylee-Ann Powell, said: "It looks like the DA has taken it. This is Cope's first time, but win or lose we are positive."
Williams said: "Things have been going well for us. It is not going to be a landslide, it is an avalanche."
According to DA MPL Anroux Marais, his party received 5 040 votes in Ward 79 to the ID's 505, the ANC's 439 and Cope's 164. In Ward 2, the DA received 4 943 votes, the ANC 62 and Cope 127 in a 36% poll.
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) provincial head Courtney Sampson said no serious incidents were reported during the voting, which was "vibrant, but orderly".
There was tension between the ID and the DA in Mitchells Plain in the morning after the ID lodged a complaint with the IEC.
Lentitt accused the DA of having been involved in an incident in which a 15-year-old ID supporter was allegedly assaulted while canvassing in Eastridge with a group of ID supporters on Wednesday evening.
The head of political studies at UCT, Robert Schrire, said while the DA's win showed the party had gained momentum, particularly in the metropolitan area, Cope's performance showed it could take votes from the ANC. In tight contests elsewhere, Cope could help strengthen opposition parties.
Of the ID's performance in Ward 79, Schrire said: "It seems to confirm the view that the ID is not able to build up momentum.
"It is seen by many voters as a one-person band under Patricia de Lille.
"It seems voters are turning to parties that will be much more of an opposition to the ANC and this is the DA."
Keith Gottschalk, a political analyst at UWC, said while there was all-out competition between the DA and the ID for the coloured vote in Mitchells Plain, it was clear DA leader Helen Zille had a strategy to gain support among coloured voters without losing support among white voters.
Many coloured voters shied away from the ANC because of its stance on affirmative action, an issue that continued to divide African and coloured voters, he said.
Ryan Coetzee, the DA's chief executive officer, said the party regarded the by-elections as a dry run for the general election.
