With the 2016 Municipal Elections three months away, BusinessTech looks back on the 2014 elections to see where the country’s official opposition party – the DA – has the most support.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Alliance was formed in 2000, but has roots in the white-led democratic opposition to the National Party. Through a number of splits and mergers over the decades, it has morphed into the DA.<\/p>\n
Support for the DA has grown significantly over the years, as it shifted into a largely multi-racial political group – though the party has struggled to shake the moniker of being a “white party”, having secured the vast majority of white votes in the country.<\/p>\n
The party’s politics are rooted in liberal ideals, with centrist economic policies. It stands in contrast to the EFF which is hard-line communist, though it is not completely free-market, including things like affirmative action, BEE and land reform in its manifesto.<\/p>\n
Read:\u00a0These are the EFF strongholds across South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n As the official opposition to the ANC, the DA has the strongest showing out of all non-ANC parties in every province except Limpopo (where the EFF is the official opposition) – retaining the controlling vote of the Western Cape.<\/p>\n The Western Cape is the party’s home base, where it has 57.3% of the vote – with the strongest showing in the Swartland municipality (65.9%).<\/p>\n The party’s weakest showing is in Limpopo, where it has only 6.6% of all votes – the strongest showing in the Bela municipality, with 18.5%.<\/p>\n In the 2016 Elections, the DA has set its sights on three major metros – Tshwane, The City of Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, where the party is creeping up on the ANC’s majority.<\/p>\n The table below details the provinces where the DA has most support – and the municipality in each where it performed the best in 2014.<\/p>\n The 2016 Municipal Elections will take place on 3 August 2016.<\/p>\n DA deals with racists in the party, the ANC doesn\u2019t \u2013 Cachalia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Watch: DA\u2019s Maimane on losing support and the threat of Julius Malema<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Maimane is a \u201cblack human cloak\u201d: ANC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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\n Province<\/th>\n % of the vote<\/th>\n Municipality<\/th>\n % of the vote<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Western Cape<\/td>\n 57.26%<\/td>\n Swartland<\/td>\n 65.92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Gauteng<\/td>\n 28.52%<\/td>\n Midvaal<\/td>\n 49.55%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Northern Cape<\/td>\n 23.36%<\/td>\n Hantam<\/td>\n 37.36%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Free State<\/td>\n 16.24%<\/td>\n Metsimaholo<\/td>\n 24.65%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Eastern Cape<\/td>\n 15.87%<\/td>\n Kouga<\/td>\n 49.87%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n KwaZulu Natal<\/td>\n 13.35%<\/td>\n uMngeni<\/td>\n 30.45%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n North West<\/td>\n 12.59%<\/td>\n Tlokwe<\/td>\n 31.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mpumalanga<\/td>\n 10.04%<\/td>\n Steve Tshwete<\/td>\n 20.53%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Limpopo<\/td>\n 6.60%<\/td>\n Bela<\/td>\n 18.51%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n More on the DA<\/h3>\n