News24 | Voters looking for 'a credible alternative': Small parties chip away at DA's Western Cape dominance

Cape Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams (Chelsea Ogilvie/News24)

• The DA is set to retain control of the Western Cape.
• However, smaller parties are reducing the DA's dominance in the province.
• The Patriotic Alliance has made headway in predominantly coloured areas in the province.
• Track the latest results via our Elections Map.

Three small political parties in the Western Cape managed to chip away at the DA's stronghold in the province as vote-capturing continued on Friday night.

While the DA is expected to retain control of the province, with 53.49% of support and a million votes as of 22:00 on Friday night, its overwhelming support appears to have shrunk compared its 55.45% in the 2019 general elections.

The ANC in the Western Cape was desperately hoping its numbers would increase, but it only managed to secure 20.47%.

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) turned out to be the DA's biggest headache, taking a chunk of the "coloured vote", particularly in rural areas.

Regional secretary of the PA in the Cape metro region, Cheslyn Steenberg, said voters were looking for "a credible alternative to the DA".

ALSO READ | DA heading for Western Cape victory, potentially with reduced majority as PA eats into support base

Steenberg said the PA attributed its growth to a number of factors.

"People of this province get services based on their demographics, and people have related to the PA's manifestos and our beliefs as a party, such as our slogan 'Abahambe' (let them go), taking a stance against foreign nationals," he said. 

The PA fared poorly in its first national and provincial elections in 2014, garnering only 0.07% of the national vote, with its best showing being 0.4% in the Western Cape.

This time around, it received 137 940 votes, representing 7.85% of the vote in the province.

The National Cape Coloured Congress, which is contesting the election nationally and provincially for the first time, received 31 618  votes (8.1%).

Party leader Fadiel Adams said the growth was due to hard work. 

"People call it campaigning. I call it hard work. We see other parties such as Rise Mzansi and BOSA, which put lots of money into their campaigns, but our growth is organic," he boasted.

Al Jam-ah also made strides compared to its showing in 2019 when it received 0.86%. This year, it received 17 488 votes (1.44%). 

The party's Shameemah Salie said many voters, even those who were not Muslim, were moving to the party. 

"People are moving to Al Jama-ah because they want to see change, and voters have seen that there has been no political will over the years from various other entities. We continue to do solid groundwork in communities," she said.