In Western Cape by-elections on Wednesday, the DA won an outright majority in Beaufort West by sweeping all three contested wards, including taking two off the Patriotic Alliance in the town of Beaufort West and one off the ANC in the small town of Murraysburg. And former mayor Truman Prince, who resurfaced this time under the banner of his new Movement of the People party, won just 2% of the vote, a signal that this may be his final electoral dance. The DA also won by landslides in the three Cape Town wards.

Beaufort West, Central Karoo

The setting: Beaufort West is the most populous municipality in the Central Karoo. It covers vast tracts of land and extends from the town of Beaufort West to parts of the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape border. It includes the village of Merweville and the small town of Murraysburg.

The Central Karoo is the district municipality with the fewest people in South Africa. It has fewer than any district in the Northern Cape and southern Free State. Other towns in the district include Laingsburg and Prince Albert.

The 2021 local government elections: Both the ANC and the DA lost seats here in 2021. The ANC won more votes than the DA, but both parties ended up with four seats each, down from the six they had going into the election. The PA did the most damage to the two established Beaufort West parties, winning three. GOOD and the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) won one seat each. The ANC, PA and KDF formed a coalition, with the PA taking the mayoral chain, the KDF the speaker's seat and the ANC the deputy mayor position.

The 2024 provincial election: The DA was the most popular party in Beaufort...