Skip to content
Said in Council

Votes

How parties voted

Most council decisions are taken by voice, and a voice vote doesn't say who was on which side. Of the 122 items council was asked to decide in 10 transcribed sittings (26 May 2026 to 30 September 2026), 96 (79%) have at least one party's position on the record. 31 of those were party-by-party roll calls, all at the 55th Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting. The signed minutes (65 sets, 26 January 2023 to 20 March 2026) record a party's dissent on 23 of 86 counted votes and on 89 of the 963 items decided without a count.

Transcript items with a party position
96 / 122
Party-by-party roll calls
31
Voice votes with a position stated
58 / 83
Minutes items with recorded dissent
112
How this is put together

Transcripts: AI (Claude Sonnet 5.5) read each transcript and listed the items council decided and each party position it states: a party's answer in a roll call, a speaker stating the party's position ("The DA rejects this report"), the chair naming who said no, a walkout. Code keeps a position only when its words are in the transcript at that time and name the party (or the chair's call just before does), and they say yes, no or abstain. A party that only "notes" a report is shown as noted, not as for. Every position was then read against the transcript by a person; positions found wrong are removed (1 so far). 3 more items have positions stated in debate but were never put to a vote in the transcript.

Signed minutes: read by code, not AI. They print the dissent of a party ("DA DISSENTING", Rule 84) but never who supported an item, so they show one side only.

Nothing is inferred: not from silence, "everybody agreed", or a voice vote. Parties are counted as written; "FF+" includes the minutes' "VF+".

01

How often parties agreed

120 pairs

Transcripts only, 26 May 2026 to 30 September 2026. Same side = both for or both against.

Each cell: the share of items where both parties stated a side and it was the same side, with the number of items (n). Only 65 items have two or more parties on a side, and 30 of them are from one sitting (55th Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting), so read these as that period's record, not a long-run pattern. Pairs with fewer than 10 items in common show "–" (not enough data); 16 pairs are like that. Abstentions, "noted" and walkouts are not counted as a side.

DAEFFANCActionSAACDPPAUDMAHCIFPAICFF+COPEAl Jama-ahGOODUIMATM
DA38%n 4045%n 2961%n 3659%n 2952%n 2568%n 2248%n 2350%n 2252%n 2195%n 2152%n 2150%n 1853%n 1967%n 1550%n 16
EFF38%n 40100%n 3283%n 3585%n 33100%n 2592%n 25100%n 25100%n 25100%n 2152%n 21100%n 24100%n 2177%n 2278%n 1888%n 17
ANC45%n 29100%n 3278%n 2784%n 25100%n 2691%n 23100%n 25100%n 24100%n 2250%n 18100%n 23100%n 2076%n 2181%n 1688%n 16
ActionSA61%n 3683%n 3578%n 2783%n 3074%n 2384%n 2574%n 2378%n 2370%n 2077%n 2277%n 2274%n 1965%n 2088%n 1773%n 15
ACDP59%n 2985%n 3384%n 2583%n 3086%n 2287%n 2387%n 2387%n 2390%n 2073%n 2286%n 2286%n 2281%n 2195%n 1983%n 18
PA52%n 25100%n 25100%n 2674%n 2386%n 2291%n 22100%n 25100%n 25100%n 2253%n 19100%n 24100%n 2177%n 2282%n 1788%n 16
UDM68%n 2292%n 2591%n 2384%n 2587%n 2391%n 2290%n 2190%n 2194%n 1863%n 1990%n 2189%n 1970%n 2083%n 18100%n 15
AHC48%n 23100%n 25100%n 2574%n 2387%n 23100%n 2590%n 21100%n 25100%n 2250%n 20100%n 24100%n 2177%n 2282%n 1788%n 17
IFP50%n 22100%n 25100%n 2478%n 2387%n 23100%n 2590%n 21100%n 25100%n 2155%n 20100%n 24100%n 2177%n 2283%n 1888%n 16
AIC52%n 21100%n 21100%n 2270%n 2090%n 20100%n 2294%n 18100%n 22100%n 2150%n 18100%n 20100%n 1772%n 1885%n 1393%n 14
FF+95%n 2152%n 2150%n 1877%n 2273%n 2253%n 1963%n 1950%n 2055%n 2050%n 1853%n 1953%n 1761%n 1881%n 1662%n 13
COPE52%n 21100%n 24100%n 2377%n 2286%n 22100%n 2490%n 21100%n 24100%n 24100%n 2053%n 19100%n 2177%n 2282%n 1787%n 15
Al Jama-ah50%n 18100%n 21100%n 2074%n 1986%n 22100%n 2189%n 19100%n 21100%n 21100%n 1753%n 17100%n 2180%n 2081%n 1688%n 16
GOOD53%n 1977%n 2276%n 2165%n 2081%n 2177%n 2270%n 2077%n 2277%n 2272%n 1861%n 1877%n 2280%n 2081%n 1667%n 15
UIM67%n 1578%n 1881%n 1688%n 1795%n 1982%n 1783%n 1882%n 1783%n 1885%n 1381%n 1682%n 1781%n 1681%n 1675%n 12
ATM50%n 1688%n 1788%n 1673%n 1583%n 1888%n 16100%n 1588%n 1788%n 1693%n 1462%n 1387%n 1588%n 1667%n 1575%n 12
02

Items that split the governing parties

0

Governing parties: those holding the Executive Mayor's office or a mayoral committee seat that day (ANC, Al Jama-ah, EFF, IFP, PA on the latest sitting; an MMC whose party isn't on record is not counted). An abstention is not a side, so it doesn't count as a split.

No transcribed item has governing parties stating opposite sides.

In the signed minutes: 3 items where a governing party recorded its dissent

The minutes don't say how the other governing parties voted on these, so they are listed apart. Governing parties are taken from the same office-holder list, for each date.

03

Each party's record of dissent

17

Counts, not scores. Sorted by recorded dissent and votes against.

PartyMinutes: dissent on counted votes of 86Minutes: dissent, no count of 963Transcripts: against of positions statedAbstainedWalked out
DA236732 of 6521
FF+42613 of 3460
ActionSA3109 of 6420
ACDP076 of 5010
GOOD005 of 2610
UIM004 of 2530
EFF021 of 6801
UDM002 of 3510
ATM002 of 2210
PA010 of 3910
ANC000 of 6310
IFP000 of 3100
AIC000 of 3110
African Heart Congress000 of 3100
COPE000 of 2910
Al Jama-ah000 of 2710
APC000 of 600

Minutes: 26 January 2023 to 20 March 2026. Transcripts: 26 May 2026 to 30 September 2026. The two periods don't overlap yet, so the columns describe different councils' business, not the same votes. Parties that speak on more items have more positions stated, so compare "against" with the "of" number beside it.

04

Every item with a party on record

211

Newest first. Tap a party for its words; it links to the moment or the minutes page.