The DA take an early lead in the Western Cape. (Paul Botes/M&G)
With about 40% of voting districts counted, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape says it is “quietly confident” it will retain the province with a sufficient majority to govern without the need for a coalition.
By 8am on Thursday, the DA held 56.7% of the vote, slightly down from its 2014 total of 59.3%.
Speaking at the Western Cape results centre, the DA’s Premier candidate Alan Winde said his party is not celebrating just yet.
“It was a hectic campaign. We worked very hard since last year. And we can see the numbers But it is still early days, so a little bit still to go. But we’re cautiously optimistic,” he said.
The ANC is appearing to be falling behind on its 2014 result of 32.89% of the vote. The governing party is currently at 26.9% of the provincial ballot.
This despite an optimism that a campaign based on “Ramaphoria” would be enough to sway Western Cape voters back to the party.
The ANC interestingly did not put a premier candidate forward, saying that only President Cyril Ramaphosa would be the face of its campaign.
Meanwhile Patricia De Lille’s Good party — has for now — overtaken the Economic Freedom Fights (EFF), the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), and the Freedom Front Plus.
So far De Lille’s party set to be the province’s third largest party.
Established only four months ago after De Lille resigned as Cape Town mayor and as a member of the DA, the party is tracking 3.36% of the vote.
No mean feat, says the party’s Brett Herron, who resigned alongside De Lille as a senior DA party member.
“As a former DA member on the federal council I knew that they knew in 2017 what they were going to be doing in 2019. So they’ve been planning for two years. We’ve been planning for four months to plan, execute, and get the votes out and I’m encouraged about what we’re seeing.:
Political parties agree it is still early days, with the province’s rural votes — accounting for more than 50% of voting districts — still outstanding.