Twenty-one councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-one wards, while the remaining twenty are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
In the election of 1 November 2021 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a plurality of nineteen seats on the council.
[2] In terms of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and the judgment of the Constitutional Court in United Democratic Movement v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others, in the period from 8–22 October 2002 councillors had the opportunity to cross the floor to a different political party without losing their seats.
[8][9][10] The local council sends five representatives to the council of the Cape Winelands District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance and one each from the African National Congress and Breedevallei Onafhanklik.
[11] The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period between the elections in August 2016 and November 2021.