Key facts
- Results from 71% of votes counted showed the ANC on 32% and the Democratic Alliance on 25%.
- The ANC would be down about 14 percentage points from its 2021 municipal result if the figures hold.
- The DA is on course for an outright majority in Cape Town, according to the report.
- Projections point to hung councils in Johannesburg and Tshwane, home to Pretoria.
- The outcome in eThekwini, the municipality centered on Durban, remained unclear in early counting.
- Analysts said an ANC partnership with the DA would be the best option for stability in cities such as Johannesburg.
South Africa's African National Congress was on 32% of the vote with results from 71% of ballots counted in the municipal elections, Reuters reported on November 6. The Democratic Alliance, its nearest rival, was on 25% in the same partial count.
If those figures hold, the ANC would be down about 14 percentage points from its last municipal election result in 2021, which was already its worst in history. The results so far suggest coalition talks will decide control of major cities such as Johannesburg, extending the decline of the party that had to form a coalition to govern nationally after the 2024 election.
The ANC has been South Africa's largest party since it led the country out of apartheid in 1994, but its share of the vote has fallen as voters have punished it for high crime and unemployment, corruption scandals and failing basic services such as water and electricity, according to the report.
The DA is on course to win an outright majority in Cape Town, but projections are for hung councils in other large metropolitan areas, including Johannesburg and Tshwane, home to the administrative capital Pretoria. The outcome remained unclear in the early stages of the count in eThekwini, the municipality centered on Durban, where former President Jacob Zuma is hoping his party, a splinter from the ANC, can seize a majority.
Analysts have said the best option for stability in cities such as Johannesburg would be for the ANC to partner with the DA, mirroring the arrangement they have in national government. The two are ideologically opposed on key issues such as racial redress.