Another tumultuous council term is expected for the Bitou Municipality as smaller parties continue to hold a kingmaker status.
The DA took five seats — including wards 1, 2 and 7 — but lost Ward 4 to newcomers Plett Democratic Congress (PDC), tightening the margin in an already deeply contested council.
The ANC came second with four and retained its wards.
The Ikhwezi Political Movement (IPM), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the Active United Front each got a single seat.
The council has 13 seats.
Plett Democratic Congress leader Clement Titus said the bigger parties had seen them as the “newborns” but they proved to be underdogs.
“We have come up and it means a lot to us,” Titus said.
Asked which party the PDC would support, Titus declined to say.
ANC campaign manager Mphakamisi Mbali said he was disappointed with the low voter turnout countrywide.
“The ANC retained its wards, unlike the DA which lost a ward to a new entrant,” he said.
“It’s clear that the DA is losing support. We are hopeful and irrespective of the voter turnout, we have done fairly well,” he said.
Ikhwezi Political Movement leader Noksie Kolwapi said he would wait for the IEC to confirm the result.
DA councillor Bill Nel said: “We have done well but we would have liked to do better.
“We are waiting for final results so that we can work out who controls Bitou,” he said.
Active United Front leader Peter Lobese could not be reached for comment.
HeraldLIVE