# Nelson Mandela Bay elections

The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality council consists of one hundred and twenty members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Sixty councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in sixty wards, while the remaining sixty are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
The council was dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since its inception in 2000 until 2016. In the most recent election on 3 August 2016, the ANC lost its majority and the Democratic Alliance (DA) became the biggest party with 57 seats. This was however 4 seats short of a majority. On 17 August 2016, the DA announced a coalition government with the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the Congress of the People (COPE), and the United Democratic Movement (UDM). The UDM later withdrew, and were replaced by the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
In August 2018, DA councillor Victor Manyati abstained from supporting his party's speaker, Jonathan Lawack. Lawack was removed from his position by 60 votes to 59. The DA and its supporters then left the council, and in their absence, the UDM's candidate Mongameli Bobani was elected mayor, with 61 votes in favour and zero against. Bobani appointed a mayoral committee consisting almost entirely of ANC members. Bobani was ousted as mayor on 4 December 2019 and Thsonono Buyeye of the AIC was his interim successor. Buyeye served in the position until the election of the DA's Nqaba Bhanga in December 2020.

## Results

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.
| Event | ACDP | ANC | COPE | DA | EFF | FF+ | PAC | UDM | Other | Total |
| 2000 election | 1 | 72 | - | 32 | - | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 108 |
| 2006 election | 1 | 81 | - | 30 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 120 |
| 2011 election | 1 | 63 | 6 | 48 | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120 |
| 2016 election | 1 | 50 | 1 | 57 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 120 |
| 2021 election | 2 | 48 | 0 | 48 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 120 |

## December 2000 election

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.
| Party | Party | Ward | Ward | Ward | List | List | List | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | African National Congress | 186,965 | 65.52 | 34 | 188,737 | 65.93 | 38 | 72 |
| | Democratic Alliance | 80,930 | 28.36 | 20 | 81,980 | 28.64 | 11 | 31 |
| | United Democratic Movement | 5,507 | 1.93 | 0 | 6,864 | 2.40 | 2 | 2 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 2,853 | 1.00 | 0 | 3,485 | 1.22 | 1 | 1 |
| | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 2,964 | 1.04 | 0 | 3,304 | 1.15 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent candidates | 3,772 | 1.32 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | African Transformation Efficiency and Affirmative Movement | 1,512 | 0.53 | 0 | 1,151 | 0.40 | 1 | 1 |
| | Inkatha Freedom Party | 852 | 0.30 | 0 | 738 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 285,355 | 100.00 | 54 | 286,259 | 100.00 | 54 | 108 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 285,355 | 98.68 | | 286,259 | 98.85 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 3,815 | 1.32 | | 3,337 | 1.15 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 289,170 | 100.00 | | 289,596 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 469,424 | 61.60 | | 469,424 | 61.69 | | |

### October 2002 floor crossing

In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and the judgment of the Constitutional Court in United Democratic Movement v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, in the period from 8–22 October 2002 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats.
In the Nelson Mandela Bay council, six councillors crossed from the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the New National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA. One councillor crossed from the United Democratic Movement to the DA.
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after |
| African National Congress | 72 | 0 | 72 |
| Democratic Alliance | 31 | 5 | 26 |
| New National Party | – | 6 | 6 |
| United Democratic Movement | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| African Transformation Efficiency and Affirmative Movement | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### By-elections from October 2002 to August 2004

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing periods in October 2002 and September 2004.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor |
| 20 August 2003 | 43 | | Democratic Alliance | | African National Congress |
| 26 November 2003 | 52 | | Democratic Alliance | | Democratic Alliance |

### September 2004 floor crossing

Another floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004. The six councillors of the NNP crossed to the African National Congress (ANC), as did four councillors from the DA. The single councillor of the African Transformation Efficiency and Affirmative Movement crossed to the Liberal Party.
| Party | Seats before | Net change | Seats after |
| African National Congress | 73 | 10 | 83 |
| Democratic Alliance | 25 | 4 | 21 |
| United Democratic Movement | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Liberal Party | — | 1 | 1 |
| New National Party | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| African Transformation Efficiency and Affirmative Movement | 1 | 1 | 0 |

### By-elections from September 2004 to February 2006

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing periods in September 2004 and the election in March 2006.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor |
| 26 January 2005 | 44 | | African National Congress | | African National Congress |
| 12 October 2005 | 41 | | African National Congress | | African National Congress |

## March 2006 election

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Ward | List | Total |
| | African National Congress | 373,961 | 66.53 | 43 | 38 | 81 |
| | Democratic Alliance | 137,099 | 24.39 | 17 | 13 | 30 |
| | Independent Democrats | 14,085 | 2.51 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 6,328 | 1.13 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | United Democratic Movement | 4,970 | 0.88 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 4,262 | 0.76 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 4,098 | 0.73 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Congress Movement of the Coloured People in South Africa | 3,785 | 0.67 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | United Independent Front | 2,600 | 0.46 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Azanian People's Organisation | 1,980 | 0.35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Alliance for Community Transformation | 1,169 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal Party | 744 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Inkatha Freedom Party | 465 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 6,583 | 1.17 | 0 | – | 0 |
| Total | Total | 562,129 | 100.00 | 60 | 60 | 120 |

## May 2011 election

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Ward | List | Total |
| | African National Congress | 377,138 | 52.11 | 34 | 29 | 63 |
| | Democratic Alliance | 291,571 | 40.29 | 26 | 22 | 48 |
| | Congress of the People | 35,928 | 4.96 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| | United Democratic Movement | 3,963 | 0.55 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 3,959 | 0.55 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 2,761 | 0.38 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Azanian People's Organisation | 1,837 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 1,656 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | African People's Convention | 1,625 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Christian Democratic Party | 1,262 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | African Community Movement | 1,155 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | United Independent Front | 536 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | South African Progressive Civic Organisation | 349 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | | | 0 | – | 0 |
| Total | Total | 723,740 | 100.00 | 60 | 60 | 120 |

## August 2016 election

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.
| Party | Party | List | List | List | Ward | Ward | Ward | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | Democratic Alliance | 177,551 | 46.66 | 33 | 177,920 | 46.75 | 24 | 57 |
| | African National Congress | 157,920 | 41.50 | 15 | 153,496 | 40.34 | 35 | 50 |
| | Economic Freedom Fighters | 19,132 | 5.03 | 5 | 19,819 | 5.21 | 1 | 6 |
| | United Democratic Movement | 6,969 | 1.83 | 2 | 7,600 | 2.00 | 0 | 2 |
| | African Independent Congress | 6,144 | 1.61 | 1 | 1,078 | 0.28 | 0 | 1 |
| | United Front of the Eastern Cape | 3,048 | 0.80 | 1 | 4,133 | 1.09 | 0 | 1 |
| | Congress of the People | 2,658 | 0.70 | 1 | 2,929 | 0.77 | 0 | 1 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 1,313 | 0.35 | 1 | 1,399 | 0.37 | 0 | 1 |
| | Patriotic Alliance | 1,110 | 0.29 | 1 | 930 | 0.24 | 0 | 1 |
| | Alternative Democrats | 942 | 0.25 | 0 | 287 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 941 | 0.25 | 0 | 976 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 |
| | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 862 | 0.23 | 0 | 447 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| | African People's Convention | 591 | 0.16 | 0 | 142 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent Civic Organisation | 467 | 0.12 | 0 | 256 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 |
| | Azanian People's Organisation | 358 | 0.09 | 0 | 303 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| | Ubuntu Party | 143 | 0.04 | 0 | 165 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Christian Democratic Party | 133 | 0.03 | 0 | 1,253 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 |
| | Building a Cohesive Society | 111 | 0.03 | 0 | 123 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | African Power Movement | 96 | 0.03 | 0 | 150 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | | | | 7,142 | 1.88 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 380,489 | 100.00 | 60 | 380,548 | 100.00 | 60 | 120 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 380,489 | 98.30 | | 380,548 | 98.21 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 6,569 | 1.70 | | 6,954 | 1.79 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 387,058 | 100.00 | | 387,502 | 100.00 | | |

## November 2021 election

| Party | Party | List | List | List | Ward | Ward | Ward | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | Democratic Alliance | 105,487 | 40.04 | 25 | 104,520 | 39.80 | 23 | 48 |
| | African National Congress | 104,339 | 39.60 | 11 | 103,104 | 39.26 | 37 | 48 |
| | Economic Freedom Fighters | 16,859 | 6.40 | 8 | 16,803 | 6.40 | 0 | 8 |
| | Northern Alliance | 5,499 | 2.09 | 3 | 5,726 | 2.18 | 0 | 3 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 4,427 | 1.68 | 2 | 4,317 | 1.64 | 0 | 2 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 4,310 | 1.64 | 2 | 3,968 | 1.51 | 0 | 2 |
| | Defenders of the People | 3,640 | 1.38 | 2 | 3,859 | 1.47 | 0 | 2 |
| | Patriotic Alliance | 3,473 | 1.32 | 2 | 3,724 | 1.42 | 0 | 2 |
| | Abantu Integrity Movement | 2,914 | 1.11 | 1 | 2,758 | 1.05 | 0 | 1 |
| | United Democratic Movement | 2,832 | 1.07 | 1 | 2,665 | 1.01 | 0 | 1 |
| | African Independent Congress | 1,798 | 0.68 | 1 | 990 | 0.38 | 0 | 1 |
| | Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 1,347 | 0.51 | 1 | 1,260 | 0.48 | 0 | 1 |
| | Good | 1,286 | 0.49 | 1 | 1,485 | 0.57 | 0 | 1 |
| | African Transformation Movement | 683 | 0.26 | 0 | 537 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 |
| | United Independent Movement | 603 | 0.23 | 0 | 694 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 |
| | Congress of the People | 587 | 0.22 | 0 | 651 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 |
| | United Front of the Eastern Cape | 585 | 0.22 | 0 | 539 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 |
| | Al Jama-ah | 580 | 0.22 | 0 | 475 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 |
| | Azanian People's Organisation | 426 | 0.16 | 0 | 480 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 |
| | Mandela Bay Community Movement | 401 | 0.15 | 0 | 131 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | Compatriots of South Africa | 271 | 0.10 | 0 | 299 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent South African National Civic Organisation | 271 | 0.10 | 0 | 229 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 |
| | God Save Africa | 211 | 0.08 | 0 | 74 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent Civic Movement | 160 | 0.06 | 0 | 101 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Abantu Batho Congress | 125 | 0.05 | 0 | 131 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | Spectrum National Party | 118 | 0.04 | 0 | 105 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Africa Restoration Alliance | 116 | 0.04 | 0 | 143 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| | The Organic Humanity Movement | 113 | 0.04 | 0 | 114 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | | | | 2,720 | 1.04 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 263,461 | 100.00 | 60 | 262,602 | 100.00 | 60 | 120 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 263,461 | 98.66 | | 262,602 | 98.73 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 3,584 | 1.34 | | 3,370 | 1.27 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 267,045 | 100.00 | | 265,972 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 583,270 | 45.78 | | 583,270 | 45.60 | | |

### By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since November 2021.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor |
| 4 May 2022 | 29300020 | African National Congress | African National Congress |
| 6 Jul 2022 | 29300043 | African National Congress | African National Congress |
| 14 Aug 2024 | 2 | Democratic Alliance | Democratic Alliance |
| 14 Aug 2024 | 9 | Democratic Alliance | Democratic Alliance |