The African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled South Africa since 1994, is heading towards the worst electoral result in its history, the scores showed on Friday after counting more than two-thirds of the votes in the municipal elections.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 08:20

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An electoral rout for the ANC. The African National Congress (ANC), at the head of South Africa since 1994, should record an unprecedented decline during the municipal elections, indicate the results, after counting, of more than two-thirds of the votes on Friday.

Two and a half years before the next national elections, the historic party of the hero of the fight against apartheid Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) recorded 32% of the votes on Thursday after 71% of ballots were counted, according to the electoral commission.

See also Municipalities in South Africa: the ANC is heading towards its worst electoral result

The ANC, which remains the country's leading party, has continued to record declines in the electorate since 2004. It fell below an absolute majority for the first time in the general elections in 2024 (40%).

A little more than one in two South African voters traveled on Wednesday to vote in the municipal elections, announced the electoral commission.

The participation, of 54.45%, is in line with expectations, namely higher than in 2021 during the Covid pandemic (45.86%) but lower than 2016 (57.95%).

One year before the ANC congress must appoint as its leader the successor to Cyril Ramaphosa, who cannot run again, his score is particularly scrutinized.

Towards coalition agreements in Pretoria and Johannesburg

If the provisional results are, by nature, still fragmentary, projections based on them gauge the ANC at around 31.5% nationally, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a public organization.

Historical rival of the ANC which has become its ally within a government of national unity, the Democratic Alliance (DA) should follow it with some 25.5% of the votes, estimates the CSIR – the DA had 26.33% at mid-counting.

A dissident movement from the ANC created by former President Jacob Zuma (2009-2018), the MK Party would come third but at only 9%, according to the CSIR – less than announced in recent polls.

This formation was perceived as one of the rare ones able to bring together an absolute majority in one of the country's eight largest cities (the "metropolises"), in this case that of Durban (east), the large coastal city, stronghold of the MKP. But the CSIR ultimately credited him with only 32% of the votes on Thursday.

The other metropolis concerned is that of Cape Town (south-west), whose mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, leader of the DA, claimed victory at midday. The CSIR lends its party nearly 56% of the votes.

Many municipalities, including Pretoria and Johannesburg (north-east), should go through coalitions, as is the case for more than a third of them currently.

In the economic capital Johannesburg, after a campaign as effective as it was fanciful by former DA leader Helen Zille (75) – she bathed in giant potholes or went on stage in a bathrobe and boxing gloves – her party leads the race with almost 34%, according to the CSIR, almost eight points more than in 2021.

With AFP and Reuters

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