South Africa’s governing African National Congress can still call itself the country’s biggest party after this month’s municipal vote, but the margin by which it leads has shrunk dramatically. Final figures declared by the Electoral Commission on Sunday evening put the ANC at 30.89 percent nationwide, down from roughly 45 percent at the previous local elections in 2021.
The Democratic Alliance, the ANC’s partner in the national unity government, finished second with 24.60 percent. Former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party came third on 9.61 percent, followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters on 6.25 percent and ActionSA on 5.68 percent. Smaller parties and independents together collected almost 23 percent.
What matters most for residents is who will run their towns. Clear winners were rare: roughly one council in three has a single party in charge. Single-party rule will apply in 51 places for the ANC, a dozen for the DA, five for the Inkatha Freedom Party and three for the MK Party, while a local movement, Rise Tsantsabane Communities, won one council outright. That leaves 127 hung councils, where parties now have to bargain over coalitions. South Africa’s recent experience with such arrangements, particularly in big metros, has been marked by frequent collapses and changes of mayor.
Turnout offered some encouragement. About 14.9 million of 29.2 million registered voters took part, a rate of 52 percent and six points higher than five years ago. More than 500 parties and over 600 independent candidates competed for 10,526 seats, and the commission declared the election free and fair.
The ANC’s steady slide in local contests over the past 15 years is widely linked to failing taps and power cuts in many towns, the very responsibilities that sit with the councils whose coalitions are now being negotiated.
