South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) is heading for historically poor electoral results, with the near-final result of Wednesday’s municipal elections showing it taking just over 30% of the vote.
The ANC also lost its majority in six of eight metropolitan areas, the South African Electoral Commission announced on Saturday, sharing the results after 98% of votes were counted.
South Africa’s 2026 voters are unhappy with water and electricity shortages, with the ANC blamed for the poor state of municipalities. High unemployment, crime and widespread corruption are other pressing problems.
ANC leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to address the poor performance on Saturday night. However, during the week he admitted in his weekly presidential letter that “municipal failures have contributed to the decline of public confidence in democratic governance.”
On Saturday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told journalists that the ANC must work to regain public trust.
“We cannot ask people to trust us just because of our history,” Mbalula said.
“It was a very catastrophic outcome for the ANC… Even though we are the largest party, it was catastrophic for the movement,” he added.
The ANC’s steady decline among voters
Although the ANC will remain the largest party in terms of overall vote share, it governed with an absolute majority for most of its history until the 2024 general election saw it lose an outright parliamentary majority for the first time in South Africa’s democratic era.
“This is the most serious outcome the ANC could have feared,” political analyst Daniel Silke told AFP.
“This is the ANC’s worst result in history,” Silke said, adding that the result would undermine the ANC’s ability to exercise authority at local and national levels. The results could also provide insight into voter sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election.
Once led by Nelson Mandela, the ANC was instrumental in ending apartheid and took power in 1994 after South Africa became a democracy.
But over the past decade, its results have steadily deteriorated from one election to the next. In 2024, the ANC received just over 40% in the 2024 national elections and 46% in the previous 2021 municipal elections.
After losing the absolute majority in 2024, the ANC formed a multi-party national unity government with all parties represented in Parliament, which is still in power.
The ANC’s decline comes amid disillusionment with corruption, mismanagement and high unemployment. Smaller parties have also emerged in the South African political landscape, thereby reducing the ANC’s electoral base.
DA opposition holds major cities
South Africa is currently considering complex coalition negotiations for government alliances at the municipal level.
The center-right, pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) appears to be coming second in the polls, with 24% of the vote.
The DA is expected to retain control of Cape Town after securing an absolute majority. He also performed well in the capital, Pretoria, and the economic hub of Johannesburg, and is expected to form coalitions excluding the ANC.
“All the cuts and pressures that accompanied the election are now over, and it’s time now… to put in place governments that can actually fix these cities,” DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis told reporters.
“We have already contacted many parties over the past 24 hours and will continue to do so today,” he said.
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