Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about Saldanha Bay come from
Every fact on the Saldanha Bay page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
Which party controls the council?
Dated reports
On the council's website, no date shown: Marius Koen (DA) is executive mayor of Saldanha Bay. Thyrone Williams (GOOD) is executive deputy mayor, and Olwene Daniels (DA) is speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings).
Saldanha Bay Municipality. Page is undated.
Where to look: undated, read 2026-10-16; Executive Mayor, Executive Deputy Mayor and Speaker entries (each with party label). Footer copyright 2026; image paths from 2026/02 to 2026/06.
As of 23 Apr 2026: The DA held Ward 5 with 88% and Ward 6 with 74% in by-elections in April 2026. The by-elections were caused by Laubscher's move to the PA and Truter's resignation.
Daily Maverick. Published 23 April 2026.
Where to look: Saldanha Bay section: Ward 5 and Ward 6 result lines and 'The by-election' paragraphs
As of 13 Feb 2026: Acting mayor Charmaine Laubscher resigned on 13 February 2026, a day after moving from the DA to the PA. This left the council without a mayor or deputy mayor until it elected new ones.
Daily News. Published 13 February 2026.
Where to look: paragraphs 1-4 and 7
As of 30 Jan 2026: Mayor André Truter (DA) stepped down at the end of January 2026 to take a private-sector job. Deputy mayor Charmaine Laubscher was to take over until a new mayor was elected.
IOL. Published 30 January 2026.
Where to look: paragraphs 2, 6 and 7
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 27 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: p. 2 of 3, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). Democratic Alliance: 13 (10 ward, 3 party). African National Congress: 4 (2 ward, 2 party). GOOD: 4 (0 ward, 4 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 2 (1 ward, 1 party). National Coloured Congress: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Patriotic Alliance: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). uMkhonto weSizwe Party: 1 (1 ward, 0 party). Freedom Front Plus: 1 (0 ward, 1 party).
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
The seats now
Who holds the 27 seats now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. How we count: This is our own count, not an official IEC table. We start with the 2021 party seats from the IEC. Then we add the party that last won each ward, in 2021 or in a by-election. Party seats stay with their party, and councillors can't switch parties. So only ward by-elections change these totals. An empty seat is counted with the party that last held it. The IEC lists by-elections on 5 Oct 2022, but it does not show who won them. So any ward that changed hands that day is not counted.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
What the official records say
Audit result
The Auditor-General gave Saldanha Bay a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: 'Audit outcome for 2024-25' box and the change from 2023-24 under it (audit of separate financial statements, finalised by 30 April 2026)
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