ANC wins in the Bo-Kaap

Residents line up at Sea Point High School to vote on Wednesday May 8.

“I think our vote for the ANC was a vote of our appreciation. It’s not about the ANC but about government doing governance. What’s been happening here is governance coming home to Bo-Kaap and governance is going to stay in Bo-Kaap.”

These were the words of the deputy chairperson of the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers’ Association, Fowzia Achmat, at a boeka (breaking of the fast meal) in Bo-Kaap last Friday, May 10.

This follows the results of the national and provincial elections, which took place on Wednesday May 8, where the majority of the Bo-Kaap residents voted for the ANC. The ANC won with 731 votes in the community. Ms Achmat said everyone is asking why the community voted for the ANC and how the party got the majority in Bo-Kaap.

She said with the heritage and gentrification issues that they were facing last year, the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) took the matter to the presidency and even though they didn’t believe it when President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would look into the matter, but they made it happen.

In the 2014 elections, the ANC received only 324 votes while the DA got 1032 votes in the area. This year, the ANC got 731, the DA 431 and Al Jamaa 265 votes.

The DA, however, did well in other parts of the Atlantic Seaboard.

“Thank you Ward 54. A great result for the DA in the ward,” said Ward 54 councillor Nicola Jowell.

“The conditions were terrible for a lot of the day – dark, very wet and long queues. By 5pm all stations were exceptionally quiet after the massive rush of voters throughout the day. It was lovely to also be able to chat, see familiar faces, catch up on ward issues and reconnect with many people.”

Nationally the ANC won the 2019 elections by 57.50% followed by the DA with 20.76% while in the province the DA retained the province with 52.41% followed by the ANC with 31.23%.