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The DA today won the Ward 7 by-election in Theewaterskloof (Botriver), securing 55 % of the vote (1 015 votes). The ANC managed just 36 % (677 votes) and COPE 8 % (150 votes).

Ahead of next year's local government elections, the message is clear: where the DA governs, it delivers better services than the ANC, for all of the people; and so, increasingly, people are turning to the DA and rejecting the ANC. The DA continues to grow, establishing itself as a party of government for all the people, and the only viable alternative to the ANC.

The result is significant for three reasons:

• First, it constitutes further proof that, where the DA governs, we deliver services to a better standard. Earlier this year, the DA-run Theewaterskloof municipality won the Top Municipality of the Year Service Delivery Award - an indication of the quality of the administration. Today's result is confirmation that the voters recognise this fact and have endorsed the DA to now deliver in Ward 7.
• Second, it is a vote of faith in the DA and ID's decision to merge forces. In 2008, the ID won Ward 7 off the ANC in a December by-election, when both the DA and ID stood separately. The DA's comprehensive victory today is a sign of faith in the DA-ID merger.
• Third, the result constitutes yet further evidence that, ahead of the local government elections next year, the ANC's share of the vote in the Western Cape continues to decline. In 2004 the ANC won 56% of the vote in Ward 7. In the 2006 local government elections, the ANC's percentage of the vote dropped to 40% (the DA and ID together won 30%). Today the ANC received just 36% of the vote. The more time goes by, the more apparent it becomes the ANC cannot deliver and the lower its share of the vote becomes. The fact that the DA has won eight wards off the ANC since April last year, and seven in the Western Cape, is further evidence of this trend.

The ANC took this by-election incredibly seriously - both ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and NEC member Trevor Manuel visited Ward 7. But that made little or no difference to the result.

The damage the ANC did when it governed the Western Cape runs deep and, faced with a choice between a party that delivers for all of the people, and one concerned with patronage, Ward 7 rejected cronyism and voted for service delivery.

The DA will continue to deliver and, with every passing by-election, it is clear public faith in our track record continues to grow.