Update, 8 November 2026: Final results show the ANC on about 30.8% of the vote. Read our full results report.
When the taps run dry for days on end and dark streets make walking home feel like a roll of the dice, political loyalty stops carrying the weight it once did. That reality shaped South Africa’s municipal elections on Wednesday 4 November, when voters chose councils in eight metros, 44 district councils and 205 local councils, 257 in all. In 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won less than 50% in a local election for the first time. This year was also the first local contest for former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
Anger over corruption, crime and failing public services had been threatening to deal the ANC another blow before polling day. In one township outside Johannesburg, residents who have relied on illegal electricity connections for more than 20 years said they would turn their backs on the ANC-led municipality. The vote also came after presidential accountability clashes and a US move to remove South Africa from AGOA trade access.
Basic Services Outweigh History at the Ballot Box
Local government has long been the ANC’s weak point. For voters like those in that township, the practical test of a council is whether basic services work, not which party led the liberation struggle. The Democratic Alliance (DA) sits in the national coalition with the ANC but competes against it at local level, and it went into the vote favoured to keep control of Cape Town.
The Messy Reality of Multi-Party Coalitions
With no party likely to win outright majorities in many cities, coalition deals will decide who runs them. Multi-party arrangements can keep leaders in check, but unstable municipal coalitions have been blamed in part for service failures in several cities. Those council deals will shape how municipal budgets are spent and whether failing infrastructure gets fixed.
What Comes Next
The Electoral Commission of South Africa announced official results on Sunday 8 November at its operations centre in Midrand. Once the counts are certified, party leaders will move into negotiations to form governing coalitions and elect mayors, setting the political baseline for the 2029 national election. Follow more in our African elections coverage.
