PRETORIA-(MaraviPost)-The African National Congress (ANC) — the party that led South Africa out of apartheid and has governed the country since 1994 — has crashed to 30.76 percent in South Africa’s local government elections. It is its worst result since the end of apartheid.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) — the independent body that runs elections in South Africa — declared the final results on Sunday after three days of counting. The ANC remains the largest party nationally, but it no longer controls South Africa’s biggest cities.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) — South Africa’s main opposition party — has taken the lead in five of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities. A metropolitan municipality, known as a metro, is a large city council that governs a major urban area.
The DA won Cape Town outright with 56.42 percent. It finished first in Johannesburg with 34.79 percent, in Tshwane — the metro that includes Pretoria, the capital — with 34.37 percent, in Ekurhuleni — the metro east of Johannesburg that includes Germiston and Benoni — with 30.68 percent, and in Nelson Mandela Bay — the metro centred on Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth — with 44.17 percent.
The scale of the ANC’s fall is historic.
In 2011, the party won 61.95 percent in local elections. In 2021, it won 45.59 percent. In 2026, it has won just 30.76 percent. It has lost almost half its support in 15 years.
The ANC won 3,246 council seats across the country. The DA won 1,695 seats on 24.64 percent of the vote, up from 21.6 percent in 2021.
But the numbers tell only part of the story. Outright control has collapsed.
Of South Africa’s 213 municipalities, only 74 produced a single-party majority. A municipality is a local council area. A single-party majority means one party alone has more than 50 percent of the seats and can govern without help.
The ANC won outright control in just 53 councils, although it finished first in 128. The number of hung councils has doubled since 2021 — from 70 to 142. A hung council is a council where no party has won a majority, so parties must form a coalition — an agreement between two or more parties to govern together — to run the council.
Voters turned out to deliver the verdict. Of 29.2 million registered voters, 14.9 million cast ballots, a turnout of 52 percent. That is up 6.1 percentage points from 2021. About 520 parties and 636 independent candidates contested 10,526 council seats. An independent candidate is a candidate who stands without belonging to any party.
In Gauteng — South Africa’s smallest but richest province and its economic heartland — the ANC has lost its grip. Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni — the three metros that drive the national economy — have all moved away from the party. Yet the DA has not won any of them outright. It will need coalition partners to govern.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a new force has emerged. Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party / MKP) — uMkhonto weSizwe means Spear of the Nation, the name of the ANC’s former armed wing — contesting a local election for the first time, finished third nationally with 9.76 percent and 785 seats. In eThekwini — the metro that includes Durban — MK finished first with 38.29 percent, ahead of the DA on 25.45 percent and the ANC on 16.43 percent. MK also fell short of a majority.
The rest of the vote is now scattered. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) — a left-wing opposition party led by Julius Malema — took 6.22 percent and 588 seats. ActionSA — a party formed in 2020 by former Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba — took 5.67 percent and 313 seats. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) — a KwaZulu-Natal-based party — took 4.69 percent. The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) — a party that mainly represents Afrikaans-speaking and minority interests — took 2.99 percent. Smaller parties and independents together took 22.97 percent.
ActionSA could now decide who governs Gauteng. The party finished third in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. It can back the DA, or it can join the ANC to block the DA.
The ANC kept only two metros as the leading party, and both by narrow margins. In Buffalo City — the metro centred on East London in the Eastern Cape — it led with 41.93 percent. In Mangaung — the metro centred on Bloemfontein in the Free State — it led with 33.91 percent, just ahead of the DA on 33.49 percent.
The result has shaken the ANC leadership. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula described the outcome as catastrophic for the party. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the party accepted the result and the message from voters.
That message was repeated across the campaign: water that does not run, electricity that cuts out, roads that are not repaired, and councils that cannot deliver basic services.
What happens next will be decided in coalition talks. Parties have 14 days to negotiate before councils are formed.
In Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, the DA must choose between working with ActionSA, a party it has clashed with before, or working with the ANC, its partner in the national Government of National Unity (GNU) — the coalition government formed after the 2024 national election, in which the ANC shares power with the DA and other parties.
In eThekwini, MK must find partners or face being blocked by a coalition of other parties, as happened after the national election in 2024.
For millions of South Africans, the question is no longer who won the election. It is whether a council made up of three or four parties can stay together long enough to fix a burst pipe, collect rubbish and keep the lights on.
The ANC is still South Africa’s biggest party. It is no longer the party that runs South Africa.
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