DA wins Ward 113 by a landslide

The DA’s Sue van der Linde, of Table View, won last week’s Ward 113 by-election by a landslide with 97% of the votes.

This is up from the 81% with which the DA won the ward in the 2021 municipal elections.

According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the by-election, on Wednesday June 19, had a voter turnout of 20%.

Ms Van der Linde won 3605 of the votes followed by the EFF’s Thobeka Pinkini with 35 votes, the ANC’s Thando Masabalala with 29 votes and the ARA’s Garth Armstrong with 11 votes.

The ward covers Flamingo Vlei, Killarney Gardens, Parklands Main Road and Sunridge.

The by-election was triggered when Joy Solomon resigned in March (“Veteran ward councillor calls it a day,” Tabletalk, March 10).

Dr Solomon was the third DA councillor in the Tabletalk readership area to resign from office in the past two years.

In 2022, the late Helen Carstens resigned, saying she needed to spend more time with her family (“Ward 5 up for grabs after councillor quits,” Tabletalk, July 27, 2022), and last year, Nicky Rheeder resigned as Ward 107 councillor and as Sub-council 1 chairperson. She said her family was relocating to the Netherlands, where she hoped to finish her studies in sociology (“Ward 107 up for grabs after DA councillor quits,” Tabletalk, April 5, 2023).

Speaking to Tabletalk, Ms Van der Linde, who is also the founder of Iris House Children’s Hospital, thanked the residents of the ward for putting their trust in the DA.

“The outcome was quite a shocker; I am absolutely elated. I did not expect the turnout, and I am extremely grateful for everyone’s support,” she said.

She said she hoped to strengthen relations between the community and law enforcement, eradicate gender-based violence in the ward and create cleaner, more accessible public spaces.