ANC loses lead in three key South African cities after elections — Daily Maverick
The African National Congress (ANC) has lost its status as the leading party in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni following local elections in South Africa. In these three major urban agglomerations, the Democratic Alliance (DA) won the most support, so the ANC is preparing for difficult coalition negotiations.
According to Daily Maverick, with 99% of votes counted, the ANC received 30.88% of valid votes — 9,101,793 votes — and secured 3,194 seats. The party came first in 125 of 213 municipalities.
Losses in major cities
In Johannesburg, the ANC received 20.25% of the vote and 59 council seats; in Tshwane, 20.29% and 44 seats; and in Ekurhuleni, 21.9% and 55 seats. In 2021, the party was the leader in these three agglomerations in Gauteng province.
In eThekwini, the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party came first, while the ANC retained the lead in Buffalo City, where it received 41.93%. In Mangaung, the results also did not give any one political force a clear advantage to form a majority.
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Compared with 2021, ANC support in KwaZulu-Natal province fell by 20.7 percentage points — from 41.5% to 20.8%. There, MK received 34.2%. In the Free State, the ANC's figure declined by 13.4 points to 37.6%, while in the Western Cape it fell by six points to 15%.
Two weeks for coalition agreements
The new municipal councils must hold their first meetings within 14 days after the results are announced. They will elect speakers, mayors and other officials, so parties have limited time to agree on a majority.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula called the party's result catastrophic. He said the ANC would not rush into coalitions and was prepared to move into opposition if the proposed agreements were unfavourable. ANC Top 7 officials were to discuss the results on Monday, while the party's National Executive Committee was due to meet on Thursday, November 12.
One potential option for the ANC could be cooperation with ActionSA and smaller parties. At the same time, the DA is preparing its own coalition proposals for councils without a single-party majority. EFF leader Julius Malema called on the ANC, MK, EFF and the South African Communist Party to cooperate, while ActionSA representatives said they were ready to negotiate with different political forces provided agreements were reached on service delivery, combating corruption and stability of local government.
