It was a very strong night for both the Patriotic Alliance and the ANC as both parties picked up Northern Cape wards, and showed good growth in a North West ward.

The PA won its first ward in the ZF Mgcawu district by beating the DA in Dawid Kruiper (Upington), while the ANC won outright control of the Siyathemba (Prieska) municipality.

Northern Cape

Ward 15 (Rosedale Upington) Dawid Kruiper, ZF Mgcawu: PA 37% (1%) ANC 32% (38%) DA 29% (47%) RESTORSA 2%

The setting: Rosedale is west of the Upington town centre, near the outskirts of the town. It sits away from the Orange River and the N2 national road. Rosedale has a monument to "Ouma Griet" Magrieta Jantjies, one of the last known speakers of the N!uu Language. Upington produced the famous actor Shaleen Surtie-Richards and business titan Christo Wiese.

The 2021 local government election: The DA beat the ANC by 135 votes in Ward 15. A regional party, Khoisan Revolution, was third with 9%.

This was one of the three wards won by the DA in the Dawid Kruiper Municipality, with the ANC winning the other 14. Key to the DA's victory was its performance in the less-populated Prince of Peace International Ministries voting district in the lower part of the ward, where it won 61% of the vote while the ANC only received 33%. The margin of victory...