Voting stations in the small Central Karoo town of Prince Albert opened on Wednesday at 06:00 as residents geared up to vote in a hotly contested municipal by-election.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has set its sights on an outright win in the Prince Albert Municipality, but smaller parties want to take charge themselves.

The crucial by-election in Ward 4 will be contested by Edward Hattingh from the Africa Restoration Alliance (ARA); Magrietha Jaftha from the DA; Johnny Hendricks from the Economic Freedom Fighters; and Goliath Lottering from the Karoo Gemeenskap Party (KGP).

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said the ward was previously held by the KGP and became vacant after the councillor's membership was terminated.

"The voter turnout for this ward in the 2021 municipal elections was 69.31%, and the KGP candidate won the ward with 31.56% of valid votes," the IEC said in a statement.

Jaftha, better known as Margy Jaftha, was a member of the KGP before her party membership was terminated.

The KGP managed to secure two seats in last year's municipal elections, and it entered into a governing coalition with the African National Congress (ANC) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

In July, the KGP terminated Jaftha's membership following allegations that she had voted against her own party with the DA, which paved the way for Wednesday's by-election.

Jaftha will now contest the by-elections under the banner of her new party, the DA.

Venolea Fortuin, the DA east regional chairperson, said the party fully supported Jaftha.

"She was born in Prince Albert, and for her, the community comes first, and she deeply cares for all residents. When the DA wins Ward 4 on Wednesday, the DA will govern the Prince Albert Municipality outright, and Margy, together with the DA leadership in Prince Albert, will bring good and clean governance to every resident of Prince Albert," Fortuin said.

If the DA wins the ward, the party will gain a fourth seat and become the majority party, allowing it to govern outright.

But the PA has also set its sights on the Central Karoo town. The party has been campaigning in the area over the past few weeks.

"The PA does not talk to News 24," said PA national chairperson Marlon Daniels when approached for comment.

In a recent tweet, PA leader Gayton McKenzie however said: "The Western Cape is no longer the exclusive home of the DA. We have taken Cederberg; today, we take Knysna; and in the next few weeks Prince Albert."

ANC spokesperson in the Central Karoo, Winde Plaatjies, said the party would not be contesting the by-election.

Plaatjies said: 

It's one of the wards where the ANC does not have a base. We were the fourth party in that ward... So, we have decided rather to build our structures and just show visibility.

Plaatjies said the by-election in Prince Albert was crucial for testing the coalition between the KGP, PA and ANC.

"The ward was previously a KGP ward, [and] we feel they are the stronger partner in the ward. Therefore, they must contest it. Our main aim is to keep the DA out of power in the Central Karoo," he said.

Voting stations are set to close on Wednesday at 21:00, and the results will be available later in the evening.