Out of the 94 591 Stellenbosch residents that registered to vote in the local municipal elections on 1 November 2021, only 43 843 turned out to vote.
This was a 46.13% voter turnout, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) voter turnout report that was published on 8 November.
Stellenbosch had its lowest voter turnout percentage of the decade with a 46.13% turnout for the local municipal elections that were held on 1 November, compared to the previous local municipal election voter turnout results of 62.13% in 2016 and 62.62% in 2011. PHOTO: Inge du Plessis
“The low [voter] turnout at national level also manifested in Stellenbosch. [Rainy] weather and problems with the IEC’s systems [on 1 November] have exacerbated the situation, but it is also the case that many South Africans have become hopeless in the face of problems such as loadshedding, unemployment and economic decline,” said Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Stellenbosch constituency head, Leon Schreiber, to MatieMedia via email correspondence.
The only complaints that the IEC received about the processes on 1 November were verbal and nothing official in writing, said Trevor Davids, the media liaison for the IEC in the Western Cape.
The voter turnout percentages for previous local municipal elections in Stellenbosch were 62.13% in 2016 and 62.62% in 2011, according to previous IEC voter turnout reports.
The national voter turnout for local municipal elections have declined from 57.94% in 2016 to 45.86% in 2021, according to the IEC voter turnout reports.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) Stellenbosch offices in Dorp Street, Stellenbosch Central. PHOTO: Inge du Plessis
The top three parties
The DA won the most wards in Stellenbosch than ever before, according to Schreiber. “This is an overwhelming motion of confidence in the DA for which we are deeply grateful. The result follows after the IEC created an extra ward in Stellenbosch due to population growth. The DA won the new ward by more than 85% and retained all 18 other wards,” he added.
Three GOOD council members have been elected to serve in the Stellenbosch council, according to Brett Herron, the GOOD secretary general. “We have demonstrated consistent growth since we were formed less than three years ago. We have outperformed several parties that have been around for decades – beating them to become the third largest party in Stellenbosch,” said Herron to MatieMedia via email correspondence.
Election campaign boards of the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus that were put up in Victorica Street, Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Kirsty Bucholz
The top three political parties in Stellenbosch are the DA with 61.46% of support, followed by the African National Congress (ANC) with 16.35% of support, and GOOD with 6.17% of support, according to the IEC’s live election dashboard.
The top three political parties in Stellenbosch after the 2016 local municipal elections were the DA with 69.39% of support, followed by the ANC with 19.66% of support, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 3.7% of support, according to the IEC’s live election dashboard of 2016.
Bringing South Africans back to the ballot boxes
Political leaders must “confront their failures” to persuade voters, especially young voters, to participate in the upcoming elections, said Herron. “We hope to contribute to increased voter participation by demonstrating that there are viable alternatives and that political parties can be community focussed rather than self-interested.”
The DA aims to restore voters’ confidence in democracy, said Schreiber. “Our country has everything we need to be successful and with the right political leadership, progress is still within our reach.”
The ANC did not respond to MatieMedia in time for publication.
Stellenbosch’s 46.13% voter turnout for the 2021 local municipal elections is a 16 percentage point decrease from the 62.13% voter turnout result for the local municipal elections of 2016. SOURCE: Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) voter turnout reports, VIDEO: Inge du Plessis