Democratic Alliance (DA) member, Alan Winde, has been re-elected by the provincial legislature for another five-year term as premier and Daylin Mitchell was also re-elected as speaker of the House.
Reagen Allen was elected as deputy speaker, replacing Beverley Schäfer.
The first sitting of the legislature took place on Thursday, 13 June, the first of nine legislature sittings set to take place in the other provinces.
Winde was nominated for the premiership alongside Muhammad Khalid Sayed, from the ANC. Winde won the contest with 26 votes, after a secret ballot, while Sayed obtained 14 votes. Two votes were spoiled.
Before the election, Western Cape acting judge president Patricia Goliath presided over the official swear-in ceremony of all members of the provincial legislature (MPLs), in the chambers in Cape Town.
Alan Winde nomination was a formality
The DA won 55.30% of the provincial vote during the 29 May elections, which translated to 24 seats out of a total 42, the same number they garnered during the 2019 general elections. The ANC came in with 19.55% of the vote, which meant their seats shrunk from 12 in 2019, to 8.
This meant Winde’s nomination was a mere formality, since the DA held an outright majority of seats in the House.
After the announcement of his victory, Winde conveyed his gratitude to the MPLs and citizens of Western Cape.
“It is an absolute honour and privilege to receive the majority vote in this house,” Winde said.
Speaker of the House
Ayanda Bans of the ANC and Mitchell from the DA were nominated for the speaker position of the legislature. Mitchell, the incumbent, was re-elected after a secret ballot, clinching the position with 26 votes. Bans received 12 votes while three votes were spoiled.
“I’m am deeply humbled to address this House. I am proud to represent the Western Cape provincial parliament,” Mitchell said after his re-election.
He was first elected when he replaced Masizole Mnqasela in 2022, whose membership of the DA was terminated on 22 November 2022 after he fell out with the party’s honchos.
Mnqasela went on to start a new party, the Alliance of Citizens for Change, which performed dismally and failed to get seats in the legislature.
Deputy speaker of the Western Cape legislature
The DA’s Allen was elected as the deputy speaker of the legislature with 26 votes, beating the ANC’s Nobulumko Nkondlo who garnered 12 votes. Three votes were spoiled.
Allen was previously the Western Cape’s MEC for community safety, having been appointed in April 2022 by Winde. He succeeded Albert Fritz, who was dismissed after being fingered for sexual misconduct.