| Colour: | blue |
| Drakenstein Municipal Council | |
| Legislature: | 5th Council |
| Logo Res: | 150px |
| Body: | Drakenstein Local Municipality |
| Houses: | Unicameral |
| Term Limits: | None |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader1: | Alderman Stephen Korabie |
| Party1: | DA |
| Election1: | 5 April 2024[1] |
| Leader2 Type: | Deputy Executive Mayor |
| Leader2: | Alderman Gert Combrink |
| Party2: | DA |
| Election2: | 16 May 2016 |
| Leader3 Type: | Speaker |
| Leader3: | Alderman Koos le Roux |
| Party3: | DA |
| Election3: | 15 November 2021 |
| Leader4 Type: | Chief Whip |
| Leader4: | Alderman Christephine Kearns |
| Party4: | DA |
| Election4: | 15 November 2021[2] |
| Members: | 65 councillors |
| Structure1: | File:Drakenstein apportionment 2021.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 260px |
| Voting System1: | Mixed-member proportional representation |
| Meeting Place: | Burger Centre, Esterville, Paarl, 7646 |
| Motto: | "A city of excellence" |
The Drakenstein Municipal Council is the elected unicameral legislature of the Drakenstein Local Municipality in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa.
The municipal council consists of sixty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-three councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-three wards, while the remaining thirty-two are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
The Council was established in the year 2000 and is currently governed by the Democratic Alliance.
The following parties/coalitions have governed the council:
| Governing party | Years | Mayor |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–2003 | Christian Johannes George Leander (NNP) | |
| 2003–2006 | Herman Bailey (NNP) | |
| African National Congress | 2006–2007 | Charmaine Manuel (ANC) |
| 2007–2007 | Koos Louw (DA) | |
| 2007–2011 | Charmaine Manuel (ANC) | |
| 2011–2016 | Gesie van Deventer (DA) | |
| 2016–2024 | Conrad Poole (DA) | |
| 2014–present | Stephen Korabie (DA) | |
From 2000 to 2006, the mayor of the municipality was Christian Johannes George Leander of the NNP. It was divided into twenty-nine wards, with a total of fifty-eight councillors.
After the local government elections of 2006, a coalition was formed by the African National Congress (ANC) and the Independent Democrats (ID), and Charmaine Manuel of the ANC was elected as Mayor with Wilhelm Nothnagel of the ID as Deputy Mayor. The municipality was divided into thirty-one wards, with a total of sixty-one councillors.[3]
In April 2007, the ID broke the coalition, and formed a new coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA); Koos Louw of the DA was elected Mayor while Nothnagel remained Deputy Mayor.[4]
During the floor crossing period in September 2007, seven councillors (six from the ID, including Nothnagel, and an independent councillor) defected to the ANC, giving the ANC an outright majority (32 of 61 seats) on the council. Charmaine Manuel returned as Mayor, with Nothnagel continuing as deputy. [5]
In the 2011 local government elections the DA managed to turn the tables, and obtained an outright majority on the council, holding 35 seats out of 61. Gesie van Deventer was elected Mayor with Conrad Poole as Deputy Mayor.[6]
In May 2016, Mayor Van Deventer resigned and Deputy Mayor Poole took office as Mayor. Gert Combrink was elected Deputy Mayor.[7] [8]
In the election of 3 August 2016 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of forty-three seats on the council. Conrad Poole was re-elected as Mayor, while Combrink was also re-elected.
The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections and floor-crossing periods.
| Event | ACDP | ANC | DA | EFF | FF+ | ID | NNP | Other | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 election | 3 | 25 | 27 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 58 | |
| 2002 floor-crossing | 2 | 27 | 11 | — | — | — | 17 | 1 | 58 | |
| 2004 floor-crossing | 1 | 37 | 13 | — | — | 3 | 2 | 2 | 58 | |
| 2006 election | 1 | 26 | 20 | — | 1 | 10 | — | 3 | 61 | |
| 2007 floor-crossing | 1 | 31 | 20 | — | 1 | 3 | — | 4 | 61 | |
| 2011 election | 1 | 19 | 35 | — | 0 | — | — | 6 | 61 | |
| 2016 election | 1 | 15 | 43 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 3 | 65 | |
| 2021 election | 1 | 13 | 36 | 1 | 3 | — | — | 11 | 65 |
See main article: 2000 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.[9]
See also: Floor crossing (South Africa). In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and the judgment of the Constitutional Court in United Democratic Movement v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, in the period from 8–22 October 2002 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats.
In the Drakenstein council, the Democratic Alliance (DA) lost fifteen councillors to the New National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA. The DA also lost one councillor to the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), while the ACDP in turn lost two councillors to the African National Congress. The two councillors representing the Alliance for the Community crossed to the NNP.[10]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 2 | 27 | ||
| – | 17 | 17 | ||
| 27 | 16 | 11 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
Another floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004. Ten of the seventeen NNP councillors crossed to the ANC, three crossed to the Independent Democrats (ID), and two crossed to the DA. One councillor crossed from the African Christian Democratic Party to the Federation of Democrats, a new party.[11]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 10 | 37 | ||
| 11 | 2 | 13 | ||
| – | 3 | 3 | ||
| 17 | 15 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| – | 1 | 1 | ||
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing periods in September 2004 and the election in March 2006.[12]
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 May 2005 | 27 | [13] | |||
| 12 October 2005 | 11 | ||||
See main article: 2006 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.[14]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the election in March 2006 and the floor crossing period in September 2007.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 December 2006 | 23 | ||||
| 27 June 2007 | 27 | ||||
The final floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2007; floor-crossing was subsequently abolished in 2008 by the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In the Drakenstein council, the Independent Democrats lost five councillors to the African National Congress (ANC) and three to the new National People's Party. The single councillor from the Federation of Democrats also crossed to the ANC.[15]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 6 | 31 | ||
| 20 | 0 | 20 | ||
| 11 | 8 | 3 | ||
| — | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing period in September 2007 and the election in May 2011.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 December 2008 | 7 | [16] | |||
| 21 | [17] | ||||
| 26 | |||||
| 28 | |||||
| 30 | |||||
See main article: 2011 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.[18]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in May 2011 and August 2016.[19]
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 2013 | 6 | ||||
| 5 November 2014 | 16 | ||||
| 11 November 2015 | 14 | ||||
See main article: 2016 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[20] [21] [22]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in August 2016 and November 2021.[23]
See main article: 2021 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[25]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from November 2021. [26]