Residents of Dysselsdorp in Oudtshoorn came out in their numbers on Wednesday during a by-election for the municipality's Ward 9. They were clear about their number one need: jobs.

On Wednesday, Johnathan Harmse drove his donkey cart around Dysselsdorp to ferry Patriotic Alliance (PA) voters to their nearest voting station during a tightly contested by-election in Oudtshoorn's Ward 9.

Voting stations were set up at churches, schools and a skills centre in Dysselsdorp, about 25km from Oudtshoorn. In the morning, when Daily Maverick arrived at a voting station, the mood was clear: this was going to be a battle between the incumbent African National Congress (ANC) and the PA.

The by-election was triggered when Ward 9 councillor Chad Louw resigned from the ANC in February to join the PA. Louw did not contest the ward, but was seen on Wednesday in his green PA shirt, assisting people or driving around the suburb.

As Daily Maverick reported this week, only the ANC, PA, EFF and an independent candidate contested the ward.

Louw told Daily Maverick that he was not standing as a candidate in the by-election because he had outgrown regional politics. "I reached the pinnacle already by becoming the mayor and I was an ANC regional chairperson," he said.

Louw said the PA would soon announce his new national position.

The Oudtshoorn Local Municipality has a hung council governed...