Local elections have given the African National Congress (ANC) its worst-ever result in the latest stage in the decline of support for South Africa’s once-dominant party.
Holding the ANC to account
When the final results of South Africa’s municipal elections were confirmed on Sunday, the ANC emerged as the largest party with almost 31 per cent of the votes and more than a third of the seats. But this represented a sharp fall from 2021 when the party won more than half of the local council seats with 46 per cent of the votes.
The ANC led South Africa’s struggle for liberation from apartheid and has governed the country since its first democratic elections in 1994, with its support peaking at almost 70 per cent in 2004. Its vote share did not fall below 60 per cent until 2019 but in the 2024 general election it slumped to 40 per cent, with the party losing its majority for the first time.
The ANC has shared power nationally since then with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other parties in a government of national unity. The local elections have seen a further fragmentation in South African politics with most municipalities giving no party a mandate to govern alone.
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The parties now have 14 days to negotiate coalitions to run some of the country’s biggest cities, including the capital Pretoria and the commercial hub of Johannesburg. The national leadership of the ANC would be happy to see the party forming local coalitions with the DA in cities like Johannesburg but local activists are pressing for alliances with parties they view as more like-minded.
The DA, which has sought in recent years to shake off its image as a party that represents the interests of South Africa’s white minority, won almost 25 per cent of the vote in the local elections. But former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe captured almost 10 per cent, giving it the third-largest share of the vote.
The election was dominated by voters’ unhappiness over the poor quality of basic public services, including water, electricity and refuse collection. Tired of power cuts, leaking pipes, potholed roads and uncollected rubbish, many former ANC supporters lost patience with the party.
“This has been a very catastrophic outcome for the ANC,” the party’s secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, said.
“We knew this disaster is coming, we’re staring at it. As we got into elections, the cost of living of our people was too high. The middle class have turned on the ANC in big numbers.”
The ANC has acknowledged the voters’ verdict and accepted the election result without question, as it did in 2024, evidence of the strength of South Africa’s democracy more than three decades after the end of apartheid. President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the fact that the independent electoral commission judged the vote to be free and fair and largely conducted in a peaceful environment.
“We accept the will of the people however concerning it might be, we accept that this is how the people of South Africa in our towns, in our cities, in our metros have spoken – and this is their verdict, we accept it with humility,” he said.
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