The Knysna Local Municipality council consists of twenty-one members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eleven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eleven wards, while the remaining ten are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council.
The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.
| Event | ANC | DA | IND | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 election | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| 2004 floor-crossing | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 2006 election | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 2007 floor-crossing | 9 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 2011 election | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| 2016 election | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
| 2021 election | 7 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 21 |
See main article: 2000 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.[1]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the election in December 2000 and the floor crossing period in September 2004.[2]
See also: Floor crossing (South Africa). In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, in the period from 1–15 September 2004 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats. In the Knysna council, one councillor crossed from the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the African National Congress, while another councillor left the DA to sit as an independent.
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
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.
See main article: 2006 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.[3]
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 Knysna council, the two councillors of the Knysna Community Forum crossed to the African National Congress, and the single councillor of the Independent Civic Organisation crossed to the National People's Party.[4]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| — | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
See main article: 2011 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.[5]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in May 2011 and August 2016.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 July 2014 | 5 | ||||
| 22 July 2015 | 9 | ||||
| 10 | |||||
See main article: 2016 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[6]
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in August 2016 and November 2021.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 October 2018 | 8 | ||||
| 13 February 2019 | 4 | ||||
| 21 August 2019 | 5 | ||||
| 4 December 2019 | 11 | ||||
| 11 November 2020[7] | 9 | ||||
| 10 | |||||
| 21 April 2021 | 11 | ||||
See main article: 2021 South African municipal elections.
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[8]