One of the surprises was the Democratic Alliance (DA) who lost two proportional seats – they had seven seats but are now left with five seats. René Pohl of the DA said the loss does not come as a surprise as Covid hampered their campaign in the rural communities. “Everything had to be done online and access to the internet is a problem in these communities,” she said. Pohl said intimidation also played a role. “But we want to thank everyone who voted and supported the DA,” she said.

Two new parties also got the thumbs up from voters. André Moss, the Freedom Front Plus (VF+) candidate received a proportional seat. He told the Herald that voters are willing to give new blood a chance as they are disillusioned by the lack of service delivery from former councillors. The AFP is also new to council with one proportional seat (PR).

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The EFF increased their seats from eight to nine and one independent candidate, Eric Ralepelle in Ward 34, managed to secure his seat. The APC retained its single seat. The ANC lost one seat – they now have 51 of the 69 seats available. Cope lost the single seat it had. Peter Ngobeni, the spokesperson for the ANC in the region, said they are happy with the results.

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He said that the regional executive of the ANC has recommended three candidates for the position of GTM mayor. They are Gerson Molapisane, Margareth Makwala and Sophy Raganya. Ngobeni said they will undergo rigorous interviews by panelists from the national executive council (NEC) before a candidate is recommended. It is however widely accepted that Molapisane the preferred candidate for the position is.