South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) recorded its worst-ever local election result, winning under 31% of the national vote in the November 4 poll. The party now faces coalition talks that will shape its future, according to reports from the Straits Times and allAfrica.
The Straits Times said the ANC’s share was by far its worst result in history. The final tally, published on Sunday, gave the ANC less than 31% of the vote, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) at just under 25%, according to allAfrica.
The Electoral Commission, which spoke on Saturday, said the ANC lost its majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions, according to allAfrica. The Straits Times reported that the ANC finished second to the pro-business DA in Johannesburg and Tshwane, and third in eThekwini, where uMkhonto weSizwe won the most votes. The DA came first in five of the eight metro areas and is set to keep control of Cape Town after winning an absolute majority there, the Straits Times said.
In a post-election statement, the ANC acknowledged failures. "Communities have gone without water. Refuse has not been collected," the party said, according to the Straits Times. Senior leaders will meet later this week to analyse the loss.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet addressed the party’s poor performance directly, according to allAfrica. In his weekly letter, however, he said "municipal failures have contributed to declining public trust."
The result comes after the ANC lost its outright parliamentary majority in the 2024 general election. It has since governed in a cross-party national unity government. Ramaphosa’s term as ANC leader ends in December 2027, with no obvious successor, and analysts say coalition deals could influence that contest.
Coalition talks are expected to run over the next two weeks in municipalities where no party won a majority. These talks will decide municipal governments, including Johannesburg.
The DA has claimed it won more than one million Black South African votes for the first time. That figure comes from the DA’s own modelling and has not been independently verified. Results for eThekwini and the outcome of coalition negotiations in each metro are not yet settled in the sources. The key figures in this report rely on two outlets, the Straits Times and allAfrica, and an allAfrica item was available only as a headline and short excerpt, so its details could not be fully checked.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.