2019 Northern Cape provincial election

2019 Northern Cape provincial election

8 May 2019
All 30 seats to the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   EFF Candidate Zamani Saul Andrew Louw Shadrack Tlhaole Party ANC DA EFF Last election 64.40% 23.89% 4.96% Seats before 20 7 2 Seats won 18 8 3 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 228,265 101,198 38,527 Percentage 57.54% 25.51% 9.71% Swing 6.86% 1.68% 4.75%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   FF+ COPE Good Candidate Wynand Boshoff Ouneas Dikgetsi Leonard Francois Mckay Party Freedom Front Plus Congress of the People Good Last election 1.09% 3.60% New Party Seats before 0 1 New Party Seats won 1 0 0 Seat change 1 1 New Party Popular vote 10,641 3,400 3,283 Percentage 2.68% 0.86% 0.83% Swing 1.59% 2.74% New Party
Premier before election Sylvia Lucas African National Congress Elected Premier Zamani Saul African National Congress

The 2019 Northern Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to allocate the 30 seats of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Like all the South African provincial elections, it was held on the same day as the South African general election. 21 political parties participated in the election, of which only the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, and Freedom Front Plus won seats. The ANC lost two seats, but maintained a majority.

Premier Candidates

African National Congress

There was some controversy prior to the election regarding the Northern Cape ANC's leadership. ANC Provincial Chairpersoni Dr. Zamani Saul won the premiership despite a long rivalry with the incumbent premier, Sylvia Lucas. Their rivalry was considered to be a proxy of that between Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, with Lucas supporting Zuma and Saul supporting Ramaphosa. The provincial ANC youth league endorsed Saul, with youth league secretary Xhanti Teki stating that Saul's track record proved he would be able to improve Northern Cape's economy. After leaving office, Lucas became the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces.

Democratic Alliance

In 2018, the DA announced that Andrew Louw would be their premier candidate in the upcoming election. The DA had plans to become the dominant party in the Northern Cape, however these plans failed.

Economic Freedom Fighters

The EFF did not field premier candidates in any province, as they are opposed to the idea of provinces altogether. Shadrack Tlhaole was first on their party list.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	African National Congress	228,265	57.54	–6.86	18	–2
	Democratic Alliance	101,198	25.51	+1.62	8	+1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	38,527	9.71	+4.75	3	+1
	Freedom Front Plus	10,641	2.68	+1.59	1	+1
	Congress of the People	3,400	0.86	–2.74	0	–1
	Good	3,283	0.83	New	0	New
	African Christian Democratic Party	2,912	0.73	+0.20	0	0
	African Independent Congress	2,191	0.55	New	0	New
	Azanian People's Organisation	996	0.25	0.00	0	0
	Khoisan Revolution	990	0.25	New	0	New
	African Transformation Movement	940	0.24	New	0	New
	African People's Convention	608	0.15	–0.13	0	0
	Aboriginal Khoisan	573	0.14	New	0	New
	Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party	542	0.14	New	0	New
	Pan Africanist Congress	435	0.11	0.00	0	0
	Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats	360	0.09	New	0	New
	United Democratic Movement	245	0.06	–0.03	0	0
	African Covenant	196	0.05	New	0	New
	National Freedom Party	157	0.04	+0.01	0	0
	International Revelation Congress	120	0.03	New	0	New
	African Content Movement	100	0.03	New	0	New
Total		396,679	100.00	–	30	0
Valid votes		396,679	98.76
Invalid/blank votes		4,984	1.24
Total votes		401,663	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		626,471	64.12
Source: Election Resources