South Africa's ANC slides to about 32% in early municipal election results
With more than 60% of ballots counted, the ANC is far below half the vote and faces coalition bargaining over key cities including Johannesburg.
At a glance
- The ANC was on about 32% with more than 60% of municipal election votes counted, with the DA second at 25%.
- Jacob Zuma's MK party was third at 8.5%, below opinion poll predictions, and trailed in Durban with 32%.
- Turnout reached an estimated 54.5%, and coalition talks loom in cities where outright majorities are not assured.
South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) was on about 32 percent of the vote late on Thursday, with more than 60 percent of ballots counted in this week's municipal elections, according to data from the election commission. The Democratic Alliance (DA) was second at 25 percent, leaving the party that has governed since the end of apartheid short of the outright majorities it once commanded in key cities such as Johannesburg.
Former President Jacob Zuma's breakaway opposition party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), was third at 8.5 percent — well below the levels opinion polls had suggested. About 15.9 million of South Africa's 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, an estimated turnout of 54.5 percent, up from 46 percent in the pandemic-hit 2021 local elections.
A long decline in support
The ANC has been South Africa's largest party since it led the country out of apartheid in 1994, but it has tended to fare worse in municipal than national elections and has acknowledged failures in local governance. It won nearly 70 percent of the national vote in 2004, fell below 50 percent for the first time in the 2021 municipal elections with 46 percent, and took just over 40 percent in the 2024 national elections. That result forced it into a unity government with nine other parties, including the DA.
Now led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC has taken much of the blame for years of municipal mismanagement, with residents facing failing water supplies, persistent power cuts and crumbling public services. It has also faced corruption allegations, while splinter parties have eroded its support base.
Cities still in play
Control of South Africa's eight major metropolitan municipalities is at stake, along with dozens of district and local councils. The MK party had been tipped as one of the few able to win an outright majority in the eastern port city of Durban, but projections by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a state-funded research body, put its support there at 32 percent.
The DA was forecast to retain control of Cape Town, a tourist draw, with 56 percent of the vote, and its leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has already declared victory. CSIR projections also put the DA ahead in Johannesburg, the financial capital, on 34 percent after a campaign spearheaded by its former leader, Helen Zille, 75.
With outright majorities far from assured in several major cities, the results could bring another round of complicated coalition negotiations as parties bargain to assemble the alliances needed to govern. The outcome will offer a key measure of voter sentiment before the 2029 general election.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- What share of the vote did the ANC win in South Africa's municipal elections?
- The ANC was on about 32 percent with more than 60 percent of votes counted, according to election commission data cited by Al Jazeera late on Thursday.
- Which party is second in South Africa's local election results?
- The Democratic Alliance was second at 25 percent. It was forecast to keep Cape Town with 56 percent and was leading in Johannesburg with 34 percent.
- How many people voted in South Africa's municipal elections?
- About 15.9 million of 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, an estimated turnout of 54.5 percent, up from 46 percent in the 2021 local elections.
