Bergrivier Local Municipality elections

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The Bergrivier Local Municipality council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seven wards, while the remaining six are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of eight seats on the council.

Results[]

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.

Event	ANC	DA	Other
2000 election	6	7	0
2004 floor-crossing	7	5	1
2006 election	6	6	1
2011 election	5	7	1
2016 election	4	9	0
2021 election	3	8	2

December 2000 election[]

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[1]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	6,124	51.22	5	6,242	52.19	2	7
	African National Congress	5,338	44.64	2	5,424	45.35	4	6
	African Christian Democratic Party	271	2.27	0	295	2.47	0	0
	Independent candidates	224	1.87	0				0
Total		11,957	100.00	7	11,961	100.00	6	13
Valid votes		11,957	98.67		11,961	98.68
Invalid/blank votes		161	1.33		160	1.32
Total votes		12,118	100.00		12,121	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		16,970	71.41		16,970	71.43

By-elections from October 2002 to August 2004[]

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing periods in October 2002 and September 2004.^[2]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
23 June 2004	5		Democratic Alliance		African National Congress

September 2004 floor crossing[]

In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, in the period from 1–15 September 2004 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats. In the Bergrivier council one Democratic Alliance councillor left the party to sit as an independent.^[3]

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	African National Congress	7	0	7
	Democratic Alliance	6	1	5
	Independent	—	1	1

March 2006 election[]

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[4]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,190	46.95	4	6,003	45.57	2	6
	Democratic Alliance	5,704	43.26	3	5,686	43.16	3	6
	Independent Democrats	1,113	8.44	0	1,227	9.31	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	42	0.32	0	157	1.19	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	42	0.32	0	100	0.76	0	0
	Independent candidates	93	0.71	0				0
Total		13,184	100.00	7	13,173	100.00	6	13
Valid votes		13,184	99.07		13,173	98.97
Invalid/blank votes		124	0.93		137	1.03
Total votes		13,308	100.00		13,310	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		20,827	63.90		20,827	63.91

By-elections from September 2007 to May 2011[]

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing period in September 2007 and the election in May 2011. ^[2]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
10 December 2008	4		African National Congress		Independent[Note 1]
24 February 2010	1		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance

May 2011 election[]

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[5]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	7,942	53.08	5	7,934	52.96	2	7
	African National Congress	5,196	34.73	1	5,241	34.99	4	5
	Congress of the People	1,700	11.36	1	1,677	11.19	0	1
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation	91	0.61	0	88	0.59	0	0
		34	0.23	0	40	0.27	0	0
Total		14,963	100.00	7	14,980	100.00	6	13
Valid votes		14,963	99.03		14,980	99.17
Invalid/blank votes		147	0.97		125	0.83
Total votes		15,110	100.00		15,105	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		23,213	65.09		23,213	65.07

By-elections from May 2011 to August 2016[]

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in May 2011 and August 2016.^[2]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
7 August 2013	5		Democratic Alliance		Democratic Alliance

August 2016 election[]

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[6][7][8]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	10,450	64.06	7	10,405	64.10	2	9
	African National Congress	5,324	32.63	0	5,295	32.62	4	4
	Freedom Front Plus	326	2.00	0	290	1.79	0	0
	Economic Freedom Fighters	185	1.13	0	195	1.20	0	0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation				48	0.30	0	0
	Independent candidates	29	0.18	0				0
Total		16,314	100.00	7	16,233	100.00	6	13
Valid votes		16,314	99.28		16,233	98.93
Invalid/blank votes		118	0.72		175	1.07
Total votes		16,432	100.00		16,408	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		26,310	62.46		26,310	62.36

The local council sends two representatives to the council of the West Coast District Municipality: one from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.^[9]

By-elections from August 2016 to November 2021[]

The DA subsequently lost one seat to the African National Congress (ANC) in a by-election on 23 August 2017.^[10] However, the DA won the ward back in another by-election held on 16 January 2019.^[11] The 2016 council composition was thus restored.

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
23 August 2017	5		Democratic Alliance		African National Congress
16 January 2019	5		African National Congress		Democratic Alliance

November 2021 election[]

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[12]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Alliance	9,263	62.09	7	9,269	62.10	1	8
	African National Congress	2,970	19.91	0	2,937	19.68	3	3
	Patriotic Alliance	1,043	6.99	0	1,060	7.10	1	1
	Good	591	3.96	0	622	4.17	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	596	3.99	0	606	4.06	0	0
	Economic Freedom Fighters	229	1.53	0	226	1.51	0	0
	Cape Independence Party	76	0.51	0	96	0.64	0	0
	Africa Restoration Alliance	38	0.25	0	43	0.29	0	0
	Independent candidates	61	0.41	0				0
	United Democratic Movement	28	0.19	0	33	0.22	0	0
		24	0.16	0	33	0.22	0	0
Total		14,919	100.00	7	14,925	100.00	6	13
Valid votes		14,919	99.25		14,925	99.28
Invalid/blank votes		112	0.75		108	0.72
Total votes		15,031	100.00		15,033	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		27,541	54.58		27,541	54.58

Notes[]

References[]