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Who runs Cape Winelands?

Elna von Schlicht (DA) is (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) of Cape Winelands. In 2021, the DA won 9 of the 17 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) voters choose directly in Cape Winelands. That is more than half.

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

Photo: Cape Winelands · Andrew Atina, CC BY-SA 4.0

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

Which party controls the council?

Voters choose the (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.). The council chooses the (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.).

The council's website names Elna von Schlicht (DA) as the executive mayor (a mayor who makes many of the council's decisions). The page has no date, and its footer says copyright 2025. Its (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) list shows the DA holding 22 of the 39 listed (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.). This is a (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.). In 2021, the DA won 9 of the 17 seats voters choose directly. The (Local municipality A municipality for a town or rural area outside the metros. There are 205.) send the other members. The (IEC The Electoral Commission of South Africa. It runs elections. It is independent, so it does not take orders from the government or any party.) 2021 list records her as Helena von Schlicht, elected as a DA district councillor.

What the sources said, by date

  1. On the council's website, no date shown

    Elna von Schlicht (DA) is executive mayor of the Cape Winelands District, and Donovan Joubert (DA) is speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings).

  2. On the council's website, no date shown

    The Cape Winelands District council lists 39 councillors. The seats are DA 22, ANC 10, VF Plus 2, GOOD 2, BO 1, PA 1 and EFF 1.

  3. As of 9 Nov 2021

    Helena von Schlicht was elected in 2021 as a DA councillor for the Cape Winelands District. Her seat was a district 40% PR seat (a seat a (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) gets from its list, to match its share of the votes).

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How were the seats split?

Voters choose 17 of this (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.) (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) directly. The (Local municipality A municipality for a town or rural area outside the metros. There are 205.) send the other members. A (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) needs 9 of these 17 seats to win more than half of them. The DA has 9, so it did.

  • DA9
  • ANC4
  • EFF1
  • GOOD1
  • PA1
  • FF+1

Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 9. That is more than half of the seats voters choose directly. Each party shows in its own colour.

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What has the council done?

We have not checked any claims about this (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) yet. That is not a mark for or against it.

Core servicesWater, lights, rubbish and roads: what your council runs.No checks yet

Housing and landHouses, informal settlements and title deeds.No checks yet

Safety and jobsCrime, metro police and work in your area.No checks yet

Governance and moneyCorruption, audits and budgets: how your council uses your money.No checks yet

What the official records say

From the Auditor-General and the national government. Every council gets the same checks. A council that is not on a list shows no row.

The Auditor-General gave the Cape Winelands district council a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.

This means its accounts and its reports on its work were right, and it followed the key laws.

Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026

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How does voting work here?

You can only vote at the (Voting station The place where you vote, often a school or a hall. You can only vote at the one where you are registered.) where you are (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.).

Pick what matters to you and see which parties promised it, with a link to where it said so.

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