JOHANNESBURG, November 8 (Aalimi Nation) – South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost ground in the country's local government elections, with counting about 99 per cent complete on Sunday showing the party at roughly 31 per cent nationally and no outright majority in any of the eight major metropolitan municipalities.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) stood at about 25 per cent, while former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party was third with around 10 per cent. Hundreds of smaller parties shared the remainder. Final results were due to be declared at 6 pm local time on Sunday. The vote was held on November 4, and the figures remain provisional until then.

ANC vote share down sharply

The ANC's tally is about 14 percentage points lower than its result in the 2021 local elections. Its share in municipal polls has fallen steadily over the past 15 years, a decline widely linked to failures in basic services such as water and electricity supply, as well as concerns over corruption and unemployment, which stands above 34 per cent.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula described the outcome as "catastrophic" for the party. He said on Saturday that the ANC would not beg for positions, adding that "the honest answer is not to argue with them but to go home and put our house in order." ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe had earlier said that the results were not final and that township areas had yet to be counted when early figures came in.

An analyst at Oxford Economics Africa, Louw Nel, said during the early count that a result near 32 per cent would be what he called the party's "worst nightmare coming true." A projection by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) put turnout at around 52 per cent, higher than in 2021, which Nel read as a sign that ANC supporters had voted for other parties.

Johannesburg and Cape Town

In Johannesburg, the country's largest city, the DA held about 35 per cent against roughly 20 per cent for the ANC, but no party is near the majority needed to govern alone. Helen Zille, the DA's mayoral candidate, campaigned on repairing potholes and leaking water pipes and has a good chance of becoming mayor, depending on coalition arrangements. ActionSA, founded by former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, performed strongly in the early count and is seen as a possible kingmaker.

The DA declared victory in Cape Town, where it held about 60 per cent of the votes counted at an early stage. In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK party and the Inkatha Freedom Party were ahead of the ANC in early counts.

Coalition talks ahead

Because many councils have no party above 50 per cent, the ANC and DA must either work together or negotiate with smaller parties to form governments. Parties have 14 days after results are declared to reach agreements before councils are formed.

The DA said it would open talks with parties committed to what it called "clean and accountable government." Analysts have suggested that an ANC-DA partnership could offer the most stability, though the two parties differ on issues such as racial redress policies.

Official final figures and seat allocations were still awaited, and the shape of the coalitions in Johannesburg and Pretoria remains unclear.