CAPE TOWN, South Africa
The African National Congress (ANC), the party of South Africa’s first Black president, Nelson Mandela, and the country’s governing party since 1994, suffered historic losses in local elections held on Wednesday.
According to preliminary results released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), vote counting had been completed in 99% of electoral districts, with the ruling ANC leading nationwide with 30.9% of the vote.
The result marks a nearly 15-percentage-point decline from the 45.6% the party secured in the 2021 local elections, bringing its support to its lowest level in local elections since the country transitioned to democracy.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) retained second place, increasing its share of the vote to 24.6% from 21.7% in 2021.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, finished third with 9.6% in its first-ever participation in local elections.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secured 6.3%, followed by ActionSA with 5.7% and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 4.7%.
Opposition parties gain ground in major cities
The results showed that the ANC trailed its rivals in most of South Africa’s major metropolitan areas.
The DA, which enjoys strong support among white voters, secured 56.4% of the vote in Cape Town, the country’s legislative capital, retaining its majority in the city council.
The party also came first in Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, with 35%, and in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which includes Pretoria, the executive capital, with 34.3%.
In the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which encompasses Durban, the country’s third-largest city, Zuma’s MK Party took the lead with 39.7%.
The DA emerged as the leading party in Nelson Mandela Bay, while the ANC secured the highest number of votes in Buffalo City and Mangaung.
Coalition talks likely in most municipalities
According to the results, no single party secured an outright majority in 128 of the 200 municipal councils where vote counting had been completed.
The outcome is expected to trigger coalition negotiations among political parties to form municipal administrations in numerous cities, including Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
In South Africa, mayors are not elected directly by voters. Instead, they are elected by municipal councils following local elections.
