ACDP questions why 3,000 pledged supporters did not vote for it in George - IOL

ACDP Provincial Chairperson, Grant Haskin, told IOL Media that they lost 3000 people they had signed up in George, as they opted to vote for other parties at the last minute.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) says it is struggling to understand why thousands of people who pledged support during its Western Cape election campaign did not vote for the party, with its provincial chairperson blaming gaps in voter education and what he believes is short-term political campaigning.

ACDP provincial chairperson Grant Haskin said the party had expected a decisive victory in a ward in George Municipality after signing up about 3,000 people who indicated they would vote for it.

However, he said the party received only about 10% of the support it had anticipated.

Speaking at the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) Results Operations Centre in Cape Town, where local government election results were being processed, Haskin said the remaining 90% had apparently split their votes between the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

"George wards are small. We signed up 3,000 people in this ward who said that they're going to vote for the ACDP. They were part of our campaign. Now that is pretty much most of the people in the ward. We were expecting to win that ward by a landslide. What ended up happening is that we got 10% of those people to vote for us," he said.

Haskin acknowledged that the results appeared to accurately reflect the votes cast, but said the party was trying to understand why people who had indicated support during its campaign ultimately voted differently.

Haskin said the party had experienced similar outcomes in several other areas, including South Peninsula, Lotus River, Bellville South, Heideveld and Mitchells Plain.

He said a recurring pattern appeared to be emerging, with voters making decisions based on their immediate personal circumstances.

"I don't want to blame it on the voters, but I think the circumstances may be exploited by political parties for short-term election gain," Haskin said.

He contrasted this with what he described as the ACDP's focus on long-term sustainable service delivery and growth.

"We're a party that focuses on long-term sustainable service, sustainable growth. We want lifelong partners in this project of ours called the ACDP, bringing about a type of governance that is not the norm, that is without corruption, that is without fear or favour," he said.

Haskin said the experience had raised questions within the party about how voters understood the choices available to them and whether more attention should be given to voter education.

His comments come as the IEC continues processing and auditing results from the 2026 local government elections.

The commission has emphasised that results must go through verification before being declared final. Its work and the progress of the count are covered in the latest Western Cape election results update.

Haskin said the party had faced a difficult election campaign, with its main objective being to retain the seats it already held.

"We just need ten seats now, to maintain what we had. We understand that we can't say that's going to be yet until the vote counting is done," he said.

He added that the party expected its position could change as the remaining votes were captured and verified.

Haskin said the final stages of the counting process could still bring changes to the party's results.

The ACDP's concerns come amid wider debate about voter participation and the issues influencing electoral choices across the Western Cape.

Previous Cape Times reporting has highlighted jobs, electricity and sanitation as key concerns among Western Cape voters, while voter turnout figures in the province have provided further context to the election.