South Africa's ANC heading to new lows after local polls

South Africa's once-dominant African National Congress was headed for its worst-ever election score Thursday with half of the results counted from local government polls giving it nearly 32 percent of votes.

The party of liberation hero and political prisoner Nelson Mandela has governed since the advent of democracy in 1994, but has seen its support steadily drop in recent years.

After more than half of the votes cast at Wednesday's polls had been counted, the ANC had a score of 31.8 percent, according to the election authority.

It was followed by the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) at 26.3 percent, it said.

From nearly 70 percent of the national vote in 2004, the ANC fell below 50 percent for the first time at the 2021 municipal elections when it won 46 percent.

The vote offers a key measure of voter sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election. By EMMANUEL CROSET (AFP)

At the 2024 national elections it managed just over 40 percent and was forced to accept a unity government with nine other parties, including the DA.

The party now led by President Cyril Ramaphosa has borne the brunt of criticism about years of municipal mismanagement that have left South Africans grappling with failing water supplies, persistent power cuts and crumbling public services.

It has also been accused of corruption and mismanagement, while splinter parties have eaten away at its support base.

The results of this week's local ballot will offer a key measure of the sentiment of voters ahead of the 2029 general election.

Former president Jacob Zuma's breakaway opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party was coming third with 7.9 percent at the halfway mark, below levels suggested in opinion polls.

Coalitions

About 15.9 million of 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, the electoral commission said, putting turnout at an estimated 54.5 percent, up from 46 percent in the pandemic-hit 2021 local elections.

Control of the country's eight major metropolitan municipalities is up for grabs, alongside dozens of district and local councils.

The MK had been tipped as one of the few parties capable of securing an outright majority in the eastern port city of Durban.

But projections by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a state-funded research body, put its support at 32 percent.

The DA, meanwhile, was forecast to retain control of tourist magnet Cape Town with 56 percent of the vote, with its leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, already declaring victory.

The party was also leading with 34 percent in Johannesburg, the country's financial capital, after running a spirited campaign spearheaded by its former leader Helen Zille, 75, according to CSIR projections.

With outright majorities far from assured in several major cities, the results could usher in another round of complex coalition negotiations, with parties bargaining to assemble the alliances needed to govern.

Final results are expected on Sunday.