By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) have retained Ward 12 in Modimolle-Mookgophong after a hotly contested by-election.
Ward 12 includes the suburban rump of the town of Modimolle. It is the most affluent part of Modimolle, a town that sits between Bela-Bela and Mookgophong on the R101 regional road.
The municipality forms part of the Waterberg district, which also encompasses places such as Lephalale, Mokopane and Thabazimbi.
The DA and other opposition parties were able to keep the ANC from power by running up the numbers in this ward. The ANC came very close to an outright majority in Modimolle-Mookgophong, but the turnout and the result in Ward 12 contributed to them falling just short.
In a statement, the DA said “having received 68.31% of the votes, more than two thirds of voters in the ward have yet again put their confidence and faith not only in the DA’s values and principles, but also in the DA’s ability to continue delivering services to the people of Modimolle-Mookgopong under very difficult circumstances.”
“While there is still much to do in this Municipality, the voters have shown that they are confident that the DA will get things done.”
“We wish to congratulate the newly elected DA councillor, Wiets Botes, on his victory. Wiets brings with him a wealth of experience, and having lived in Modimolle his whole life, he has a sincere passion for the community and wants to see his home town prosper, added the DA.
“We are confident that he will work hard in Ward 12 and that he will make sure to continue to bring the DA difference to the community of Modimolle.”
In Gauteng they got an outright win in the Tshwane Metropolitan, Ward 42, by-election.
The DA’s Shane Maas will take up the position of Ward 42 councillor.
DA support grew significantly from 73,56% in the 2021 Local Government Elections to 77,55% of the votes in today’s by-election.
The next round of by-elections are on 31 August. The ANC will defend three safe seats in Mpumalanga, while the IFP will defend a safe seat in Mthonjaneni (Melmoth), KwaZulu-Natal and the DA will meet the FF+ again in Sol Plaatje (Kimberley) in the Northern Cape.