S.Africa's ANC heads to all-time election low with a third of vote

South Africa's once-dominant African National Congress was headed for its worst-ever election performance Friday, with near final results showing it had won only about a third of the vote in local government polls.

The municipal elections Wednesday were dominated by concerns over failing water and power supplies in one of Africa's wealthiest nations, which became a democracy in 1994 when the ANC took power.

With final results expected by Sunday, the election authority dashboard showed the ANC was still the largest party with just over 31 percent of votes after 90 percent had been declared.

This was its lowest score yet after the party that led the anti-apartheid struggle secured just over 40 percent at the 2024 national polls and 46 percent at the previous municipal elections in 2021.

The plummet in ANC support from nearly 70 percent in 2004 national elections follows disillusionment over corruption, mismanagement and high unemployment, while splinter parties have also eaten away at its traditional support base.

"This is the most severe result that the ANC would have feared," political analyst Daniel Silke told AFP. "It's the ANC's worst result in history."

"It will undermine its ability to exert authority across South Africa, not just at a local level, but frankly at a national level as well," he told AFP.

Former president Jacob Zuma's MK Party was placed third, according to early results. By ILARIA FINIZIO (AFP)

"And opposition parties will be smelling blood when it comes to the next election in 2029."

The result is seen as an indication of voter sentiment ahead of the next general election, including whether frustrations with local government failures are changing political loyalties.

"We do not believe that we must see ourselves as a party that will disappear in the struggles of our people," ANC representative Nomvula Mokonyane told reporters, when asked about the result.

"This gives us an opportunity to repackage and renew the ANC," she said.

Coalition bargaining

The pro-business, centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) was placing second with just over 24 percent of the votes, according to the 90 percent count.

This was up from nearly 22 percent in the 2021 local government election.

The party was set to maintain control of the tourism magnet city of Cape Town and was also ahead in the battle for Johannesburg, the country's financial capital where it ran a spirited campaign spearheaded by its former leader Helen Zille.

Former president Jacob Zuma's breakaway opposition uMkhonto weSizwe party (MKP) -- contesting local government elections for the first time -- was third, with just over nine percent.

It was leading in the eastern metropolitan municipality of eThekwini, which includes the port city of Durban, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal province that is Zuma's Zulu homeland.

With outright majorities unlikely to be assured in several major cities, the results will usher in complex coalition negotiations, as parties start bargaining to assemble the alliances needed to govern.

Around 54.5 percent of registered voters cast their ballots. By PHILL MAGAKOE (AFP)

"All of the cut and thrust that comes with the election is now over, and it is time now... to put together governments that can actually fix these towns and cities," DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis told reporters.

"We have already reached out to many parties over the last 24 hours and will continue to do so today," he said.

South Africa's political landscape has become increasingly fragmented, with more than 500 parties registered at a national level.

"Key among the reasons why the ANC is losing votes is because of the emergence of the parties such as the MKP," said university lecturer and analyst Sanet Solomon.

"The smaller parties have been part of coalitions, but those coalitions have in the past been quite unstable and that is not going to improve service delivery," political science professor Amanda Gouws told AFP.