The Battle for the townships, and how it affects us all

HERMANUS – While local headlines often spotlight suburban coastal enclaves, the political future of the Overstrand Municipality lies in its working-class and informal townships. Together, Zwelihle in Hermanus, Masakhane in Gansbaai, Over Hills in Kleinmond, and Die Kop / Thembelihle in Stanford represent nearly 40% of the municipality’s total population.

These communities will in the future form the municipality’s primary service delivery frontier—where municipal housing lists, electricity infill, sewage maintenance, and backyard overcrowding dominate daily life. Because they hold the highest concentration of non-DA voters in the region, how these working-class hubs vote—and whether they show up at the polls—could determine whether the DA can hold its governing majority on the newly expanded 29-seat council.

Ground Zero: Zwelihle

Inside Zwelihle, where about 20% of the region’s population lives, the 2021 municipal elections fractured the electorate into three political battlegrounds:

Ward 5 (Zwelihle South): The ANC’s traditional stronghold in more established formal housing blocks. The sitting councillor for Ward 5 is Cllr Bongiwe Nombula (ANC). However, the DA maintains a persistent foothold here (600–900 PR votes) mostly among homeowners seeking municipal stability.

Ward 6 (Zwelihle North): An activist citadel. The Land Party, under Cllr Vuyisani Bandeza, outmanoeuvred both the ANC and the EFF by championing direct action on land access, turning the hostels and dense informal blocks into an activist fortress.

Ward 12 (Zwelihle NW & Extensions): Held by the ANC (Cllr Masibongwe Sihlahla), but under intense pressure from backyarder expansion, the Land Party, and the EFF.

The DA’s New Offensive

To contest this hostile terrain, the DA is pivoting to two new candidates in Zwelihle:

Hannie Morgan in Ward 5: Her task is to consolidate the DA’s growing baseline in formal housing and push for new growth as the ANC’s traditional lead erodes.

Fundiswa Tsaba in Ward 12: A well-known community activist placed directly at the center of the four-way fight. The DA is betting that Tsaba’s ground-level credibility on housing and backyarder issues can transcend national party resistance and pull votes from both the ANC and Land Party.

The Historical Shift: 2021 vs. 2024

The 2021 Local Elections: Township voter turnout plummeted to 41%–47%, while other suburban and coastal wards in the region voted at 65%–75%. This massive drop-off resulted in Zwelihle yielding just 5 seats on council (ANC 2, Land Party 2, EFF 1).

The 2024 National Election: Driven by big-picture national politics, turnout surged back to 58%–64% across Wards 5, 6, and 12, proving that township residents engage heavily when they feel the stakes are high enough.

The “Apathy Trap” & The 70% Game-Changer

Because local turnout in Zwelihle, Masakhane, Over Hills, and Die Kop historically stays low, nearly 60% of registered working-class voters sit out municipal elections. This creates a dual outcome:

Current Reality (43% Local Turnout): Township vote totals are split across multiple opposition parties, actually supporting the status quo.   

The 60% -70% Turnout Scenario: If turnout across Zwelihle and neighboring working-class pockets reaches 70%, valid votes would surge by thousands. On the expanded 29-seat council, that surge could, because of the sheer numbers, generate several additional Proportional Representation (PR) seats for mostly black opposition parties, further cutting into the DA’s margin