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New Ward 112 councillor celebrates community’s support
MIDRAND - More than 75 percent of the residents who voted in the Midrand Ward 112 by-election on 2 July supported the DA's councillor candidate Candice James.
This was according to the party’s Alan Dawson.
James said, “We have increased our support for the DA in the ward by 10 percent since the May elections earlier this year. This augers well for winning the Johannesburg Metro in the 2016 general municipal election.”
James said she was humbled by the sizeable mandate and would work to ensure efficient service delivery in her ward. “I am grateful to the large number of
residents who came out to work in the campaign and voters who voted for a better ward.”
In a clean sweep the DA won all of the ward’s seven voting districts, improving on wins in five of the districts just two months ago in the provincial and national elections.
Playing us for a fool?
By-election, municipal or local election and national election data are three very different animals because the voter turnout patterns is vastly different. So in order to draw fair comparisons, one has to look at the official IEC figure of 22,589 registered voters in Ward 112 with the understanding that there has never been a by-election in ward 112. In the 2011 local elections, the DA received 11,510 votes (50.9%), in the recent 2104 provincial elections, they received 8,388 votes (37%) and in the by-election 48 hours ago, the DA received only 3,975 votes (16%). While this trend cuts across most parties, these voter turnout numbers actually shows declining support for the DA.
In addition and more importantly, there were 4 previous DA wards in Joburg (including Ward 112) up for by-election on July 2 with the results showing that the DA retained (not won) 3 of the 4 wards and lost 1 to the ANC which translates into the loss of a seat at Joburg City Council.
I am deeply concerned that in less than 24 hours of the by-election results, this party is grossly exaggerating claims of a landslide victory and a 10% increase in support while in reality, the voter support is actually declining AND the DA lost a seat in the Joburg City Council – so what did they really win? I think you will agree that we need to be wary of these exaggerations and false claims of increased support because I don’t want to be played as a fool either.