ANC Suffers Worst-Ever Municipal Election Result, Coalition Talks Loom Across South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC), which has dominated South African politics since the end of apartheid, secured 30.76 percent of votes in municipal elections, marking its worst electoral performance on record, according to the Electoral Commission.

With no party winning outright in many municipalities, the results have set the stage for complex coalition negotiations to govern several major cities.

The liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), the ANC’s closest challenger and main partner in the national unity government, secured around a quarter of the vote, according to the final results.

Voter turnout reached 52 percent, up six percentage points from the Covid-affected 2021 municipal elections, Electoral Commission of South Africa Chairperson Mosotho Moepya said.

One municipality will rerun its vote after party supporters stormed a polling station and destroyed ballot papers, Moepya added.

The result represents a dramatic reversal for the party of late liberation icon Nelson Mandela, which won nearly two-thirds of the vote in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

While the ANC remains the country’s largest party, support has steadily declined amid unemployment levels exceeding 34 percent, among the highest globally, as well as persistent crime and corruption scandals.

Water shortages, electricity outages and poor service delivery were among the key issues dominating Wednesday’s ballot as voters assessed the performance of parties governing their towns and cities.

No party won outright in many municipalities, setting the stage for fraught coalition negotiations. Photo: MARCO LONGARI / AFP (File)

'Catastrophic' Result

"Where we have fallen short, this movement does not dispute it. Communities have gone without water. Refuse has not been collected. Roads have not been maintained," ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said on Saturday, describing the results as "catastrophic".

"We have been weighed in the balance, and where we have been found wanting we dare not quarrel with the scale," he told reporters.

More than half of South Africa's 213 councils failed to produce outright majorities, forcing parties into potentially difficult negotiations to form governing coalitions.

Previous coalition governments have often been plagued by infighting and shifting alliances, leaving local administrations paralysed and essential services neglected.

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged political parties to prioritise communities during coalition negotiations, warning that critical services must not be held hostage to political disagreements.

"The people have spoken. Their verdict must be respected. Their concerns must be heard and their expectations must now be met," he said on Sunday.

The parties now face a tight timetable. Newly elected councils are legally required to hold their first meetings within 14 days of the formal declaration of results, during which councillors will elect mayors and other office-bearers.

All but one of South Africa’s eight major cities face coalition negotiations, with the DA securing the only outright majority in Cape Town.

The DA was also leading in Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub, where it fielded 75-year-old veteran politician Helen Zille, popularly known as "Gogo" (grandmother). A longtime ANC critic, Zille built her political career in Cape Town.

Centre-right party ActionSA, founded by former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba after breaking away from the DA, finished fifth nationally but could hold the balance of power in several major metropolitan areas, including Tshwane, which includes the capital Pretoria.