OMM Newsroom
South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC), the party of the country’s first Black president, Nelson Mandela, suffered historic losses in local elections held on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Preliminary results released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa showed that votes had been counted in 99% of electoral districts, with the ANC leading nationwide on 30.9%.
The result is a decline of nearly 15 percentage points from the 45.6% the party won in the 2021 local elections, leaving its support at its lowest level in local elections since South Africa’s transition to democracy.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) retained second place, raising its vote share to 24.6% from 21.7% in 2021. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, came third with 9.6% in its first local election campaign.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) received 6.3%, followed by ActionSA with 5.7% and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 4.7%.
Opposition parties lead in major cities
The ANC trailed its rivals in most of South Africa’s major metropolitan areas, according to the results.
The DA, which has strong support among white voters, won 56.4% in Cape Town, the country’s legislative capital, retaining its majority on the city council. It also came first in Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, with 35%, and in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which includes executive capital Pretoria, with 34.3%.
Zuma’s MK Party led in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which encompasses Durban, the country’s third-largest city, with 39.7%.
The DA was the leading party in Nelson Mandela Bay, while the ANC won the highest number of votes in Buffalo City and Mangaung.
Coalition talks expected in many municipalities
No party secured an outright majority in 128 of the 200 municipal councils where vote counting had been completed.
The results are expected to prompt coalition negotiations to form municipal administrations in numerous cities, including Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
South African voters do not elect mayors directly. Municipal councils choose mayors after local elections.
