Municipal Elections 2021: Cape Town Rain Impacts DA’s Votes with Lower Turnout Than Expected

• Cape Town experienced heavy rain and wind during yesterday's local government elections, which is thought to have caused a lower voter turnout
• Despite the low turnout, the DA is predicted to retain their control of Cape Town, with Geordin Hill-Lewis set to be the next Cape Town Mayor
• The influx of smaller parties in this election could split the opposition vote away from the DA's national goal of 20%

CAPE TOWN- Yesterday's heavy rain and wind in Cape Town caused many voters to decide they would rather stay home than brave queuing in the unpleasant weather.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s mayoral candidate for Cape Town, expected that less than 40% of registered voters would turn up at voting stations.

News24 predicts that Hill-Lewis will be elected the next Mayor of Cape Town as the DA should remain in control of the City with an estimated 58% majority.

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Elections 2021: ANC taking the lead in local municipalities but opposition parties coming out strong

Political parties fight to win Cape Town

The DA has a solid support base of voters in Cape Town, which they rely on to boost their national results. However, according to Business Day, a low voter turnout in Cape Town could damage the DA's chances of achieving more than 20% nationally, which they need to make up their 2019 national election losses.

Many small parties have been established specifically to represent the interests of coloured people, such as the Patriotic Alliance (PA), GOOD and the Cape Coloured Congress. These parties have the potential to split the opposition vote away from the DA. A PA campaigner in Mitchell's Plain said:

“People want change. We are not black enough, we are not white enough, there are no jobs for our youth.”

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South Africa comments on DA's election status

South Africans took to Twitter to share their opinions on the impact of the bad weather in Cape Town on the DA's chances at local government election success. Here's what some people had to say:

@JustMe01208953 said:

"So the weather is the issue not the reluctance to drop the "drought" water prices, the pipe and the electricity meter levies. Or even the fact that many lost their jobs and the DA led council still gave themselves raises."

@Thando12609068 shared:

"And now Capetonians are going to have a 34 year old Mayor. WOW. I'm so jealous."

@EllisMaytham believes:

"More people will leave the bankrupt ANC municipalities to go to the DA run places."

Opposition parties strengthening despite ANC's lead

Earlier, Briefly News reported approximately 9% of the total local government elections were counted overnight and preliminary results show that the African National Congress is doing quite well in the local municipal council elections.

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Loadshedding may have a negative impact on the ANC in municipal election polls

However, the ruling party currently has 45% support but will need more than 50% to govern without coalitions. Of the almost 9 000 seats in Parliament, Monday night's counting results secured the ANC 849 spots, the DA 499 , the FF+ with 151 and EFF 57 while counting continues.

The DA is gaining majority support in the Western Cape, however, the EFF has become a surprisingly strong contender in the province. In Midvaal, Gauteng, the FF+ is doing quite well.

Source: Briefly News