The Kouga Local Municipality council consists of thirty members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fifteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fifteen wards, while the remaining fifteen are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
| Event | ANC | DA | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 election | 9 | 9 | 1 | 19 |
| 2002 floor-crossing | 9 | 9 | 1 | 19 |
| 2004 floor-crossing | 11 | 8 | 0 | 19 |
| 2006 election | 11 | 6 | 3 | 20 |
| 2011 election | 15 | 14 | 1 | 29 |
| 2016 election | 12 | 17 | 0 | 29 |
| 2021 election | 11 | 16 | 3 | 30 |
See main article: 2000 South African municipal elections.
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 Kouga council, one councillor from the Democratic Alliance (DA) crossed to the New National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA, while the single councillor from Kouga 2000 crossed to the DA.[1]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 9 | 0 | 9 | ||
| – | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing periods in October 2002 and September 2004.[2]
Another floor crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004, in which the NNP councillor and one DA councillor both crossed to the African National Congress (ANC).[3]
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 9 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing period in September 2004 and the election in March 2006.
See main article: 2006 South African municipal elections.
The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in March 2006 and May 2011.
See main article: 2011 South African municipal elections.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 November 2013 | 5 | ||||
| 9 | |||||
See main article: 2016 South African municipal elections.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 December 2017 | 5 | ||||
| 11 November 2020 | 2 | ||||
See main article: 2021 South African municipal elections.