DA draws coalition red line as Western Cape faces hung councils - IOL

Geordin Hill-Lewis Cape Town 04-November-2026-DA and Geordin Hill-Lewis declare victory in Cape Town with less than a quarter of votes counted SA DA leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has declared the party the winner in the Mother City. Photographer Ayanda Ndamane/ANA Studio

The Democratic Alliance (DA) would rather sit in opposition than enter a coalition with parties it believes have mismanaged municipalities, a senior party figure has warned, as the 2026 local government election results point to coalition negotiations in several Western Cape councils.

DA provincial executive committee member and City of Cape Town mayoral committee member Grant Twigg said the party would consider working with political parties and independent candidates whose priorities and values align with its own.

But he made it clear that the DA would not enter coalitions simply to secure power, particularly in municipalities where other parties had previously governed.

The election results supplied for this report indicate that at least 16 Western Cape municipalities could be left without an outright majority, potentially requiring parties to negotiate arrangements to form governing coalitions.

The DA is leading in many of the voting districts counted so far, followed by the ANC and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

The possibility of coalition negotiations has been a key issue in the province ahead of the elections. In previous Cape Times reporting, Western Cape political parties outlined their coalition red lines before voters went to the polls.

Twigg said the party was waiting for the final results before deciding which parties or independent candidates it could work with.

“With regards to the hung councils, we're waiting for the final results to come out so that we can see which political parties or independents have secured votes in those areas. Once we have those results, we will definitely engage, because we have to. There's no way we can refuse to engage with parties that are like-minded with the DA,” he said.

He said the DA had a responsibility to work with others where possible to ensure effective governance and service delivery.

However, he warned that the party would not enter into coalitions with political parties it believed had failed to govern municipalities properly.

“I know that we will be looking at parties and individuals that are more aligned with where the DA is currently at. If there's no partners in some municipalities, we would rather go into opposition.

“We will not be going to coalition with political parties that have been governing those areas on their own with other parties and messed it up. We will be considering our options,” Twigg said.

The Electoral Commission’s emerging results have already highlighted the scale of the coalition challenge. Only two of 12 Western Cape municipalities with completed counts secured outright majorities, leaving the remaining councils facing the prospect of coalition arrangements.

In Cape Town, Twigg said the DA was looking forward to continuing its work under Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

He said the party was encouraged by voter support and viewed the result as a mandate to continue its plans for the city.

“We're excited and happy that people came out to support the DA. This is a clear message to the DA that people want us to continue serving them. Hill-Lewis will therefore continue as our mayor, ensuring that the plans for the City are carried forward and that service delivery continues,” Twigg said.

The DA has declared victory in Cape Town, with Hill-Lewis projecting that the party would secure about 58% of the vote. The declaration was based on the party’s own calculations, rather than a final formal announcement by the IEC.

The party has also faced criticism over declaring victory before the IEC had completed its process. The GOOD Party accused the DA of undermining the electoral commission with its announcement.

Twigg said the DA would not be starting from scratch if it retained control of the city, as plans and budgets for the next term had already been considered in council.

“What we will now be doing is building on that work and continuing to deliver services to our communities. We need to look at the priorities of the people,” he said.

He added that priorities would differ between municipalities and that coalition partners would need to find common ground when deciding how to allocate resources and deliver services.

“It's not going to be one size fits all. What is a priority in one municipality might not be the same for another. So it's things that we will have to look into.

“Unfortunately so, we are going to have partners we are going to have to work with and their priorities might be different. So it's going to be a give and take. But we will try to make sure we render the best services to those communities,” he said.

The final outcome of the negotiations will depend on the number of seats secured by each party and the agreements they are able to reach.