Thecouncil of theCity of Cape Town in theWestern Cape,South Africa is elected every five years by a system ofmixed-member proportional representation. Half of the councillors are elected byfirst-past-the-post voting from individualwards, while the other half are appointed fromparty lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. By-elections are held to replace the councillors elected by wards if a vacancy occurs.

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections andfloor-crossing periods.

The current form of the City of Cape Town was created in 2000 by merging the six transitional municipalities in the Cape Town metropolitan area (Cape Town/Central, South Peninsula, Blaauwberg, Tygerberg, Oostenberg and Helderberg) and the overarching Cape Metropolitan Council. The council of the new municipality consisted of 200 members, 100 elected from wards and the other 100 from party lists. The election was held on 5 December 2000; theDemocratic Alliance won a majority of 107 seats.

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the election in December 2000 and thefloor crossing period in October 2002.

In terms of theEighth Amendment of the Constitution and the judgment of theConstitutional Court inUnited Democratic Movement v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, in the period from 8–22 October 2002 councillors had the opportunity tocross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats.

In the Cape Town city council, the Democratic Alliance (DA) lost 31 councillors to theNew National Party (NNP), which had formerly been part of the DA. The DA also lost 3 councillors to the African National Congress (ANC), 1 to theUniversal Party and 1 who became an independent. The sole councillor of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) also crossed to the NNP.^[6] The ANC and the NNP formed a coalition which held a majority of 112 seats.

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	African National Congress	77	3	80
	Democratic Alliance	107	36	71
	New National Party	–	32	32
	African Christian Democratic Party	8	0	8
	United Democratic Movement	3	0	3
	Africa Muslim Party	2	0	2
	Moderate Independent Party	1	0	1
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	1	0	1
	Independent	–	1	1
	Universal Party	–	1	1
	Inkatha Freedom Party	1	1	0

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between thefloor crossing periods in October 2002 and September 2004.

Another floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2004. 23 of the 32 NNP councillors crossed to the ANC, giving the ANC a majority of 104 seats. A further 4 NNP councillors crossed to the ID. 2 councillors of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) crossed to theFederation of Democrats, a new party.^[10]

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	African National Congress	81	23	104
	Democratic Alliance	70	0	70
	African Christian Democratic Party	8	2	6
	New National Party	32	27	5
	Independent Democrats	–	4	4
	United Democratic Movement	3	0	3
	Africa Muslim Party	2	0	2
	Federation of Democrats	–	2	2
	Independent	1	0	1
	Moderate Independent Party	1	0	1
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	1	0	1
	Universal Party	1	0	1

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between thefloor crossing periods in September 2004 and the election in March 2006.

At the election of 1 March 2006, the city council was expanded to 210 members with the addition of 5 new wards and 5 new PR list councillors. No party obtained a majority, with theDemocratic Alliance (DA) winning 90 seats, theAfrican National Congress (ANC) 81, and the newIndependent Democrats (ID) 23.

After much negotiation, a seven-party governing coalition was formed, consisting of the DA, theAfrican Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), theAfrica Muslim Party (AMP), theUnited Democratic Movement (UDM), theFreedom Front Plus (VF+), theUnited Independent Front (UIF), and theUniversal Party (UP). The coalition held 105 seats, exactly half of the council, compared to the 104 seats held by the ANC and ID together. The single councillor from thePan Africanist Congress abstained from the election of the mayor.^[13]

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the election in March 2006 and thefloor crossing period in September 2007.

The final floor-crossing period occurred on 1–15 September 2007; floor-crossing was subsequently abolished in 2008 by theFifteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In the Cape Town city council, the ID lost three councillors to the newNational People's Party (NPP), two to the DA and one to the newSocial Democratic Party. The UDM and the UIF each lost one councillor to the DA, and the AMP lost one councillor to the NPP.^[18] Control of the council was not affected because the ID had joined the governing coalition earlier in the year.

Party		Seats before	Net change	Seats after
	Democratic Alliance	91	4	95
	African National Congress	81	0	81
	Independent Democrats	22	6	16
	African Christian Democratic Party	7	0	7
	National People's Party	–	4	4
	Africa Muslim Party	3	1	2
	United Democratic Movement	2	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	1	0	1
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	1	0	1
	Universal Party	1	0	1
	Social Democratic Party	–	1	1
	United Independent Front	1	1	0

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the floor crossing period in September 2007 and the election in May 2011.

At the election of 18 May 2011, the council was expanded to 221 members with the addition of 6 new wards and 5 new PR list seats. The Democratic Alliance won a majority of 135 seats.

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in May 2011 and August 2016.

At the election of 3 August 2016, the council was expanded to 231 members with the addition of 5 new wards and 5 new PR list seats. The Democratic Alliance won a majority of 154 seats.

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in August 2016 and November 2021.

On 31 October 2018, incumbent Mayor Patricia de Lille resigned. An election was held on 6 November 2018 to determine her successor. It was subsequently won by former Mayor, Dan Plato. The candidates nominated were:

• Dan Plato (Democratic Alliance), formerProvincial Minister of Community Safety (2011 - 2018); formerMember of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (2011 - 2018); formerMayor of Cape Town (2009 - 2011)
• Xolani Sotashe (African National Congress), incumbent Leader of the African National Congress in the Cape Town City Council; Mayoral candidate in 2016;Member of the Cape Town City Council (2000 - present)
• Grant Haskin (African Christian Democratic Party), incumbent Leader of the African Christian Democratic Caucus (2016–present); formerDeputy Mayor of Cape Town (2007 - 2009); formerMember of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament

The results were as follows.

The Democratic Alliance won a reduced majority of 136 seats. This was later reduced to 135 seats^[57] when after a 7-month legal battle and a recount^[58] it was announced on May 26 that the Democratic Alliance had been misallocated a seat that should have been awarded to Cape Independence Party, giving the Cape Independence Party a second seat.

The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since the election in November 2021.^[56]

In ward 56, the DA councillor resigned in November 2022. The DA failed to nominate a candidate in time for the February by-election, which was contested by parties includingGood,Al Jama-ah,Economic Freedom Fighters, and thePatriotic Alliance (PA). The PA won the ward with 41% of the vote.^[69][70]

• Municipal elections in South Africa
• Government of Cape Town
• Elections in the Western Cape

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022