South Africa's African National Congress has posted its weakest local election result since the end of apartheid, according to the BBC. The party took 30.76% of the national vote in the municipal polls, down from the 46% it secured in 2021. The BBC reports that the ANC itself described the outcome as "catastrophic."
The result marks a further step in the party's long decline. The ANC won 64.82% of the vote two decades ago, and in 2024 it lost its national majority for the first time, forcing it into a government of national unity with several other parties.
Why it matters
The ANC remains the largest single party in the country, but its grip on local government has loosened sharply. According to the BBC, it secured a majority in only one of South Africa's nine provinces, Limpopo, compared with six provinces in 2021. It also finished first in just two of eight metropolitan cities, down from six at the previous local elections.
That shift hands significant bargaining power to smaller parties as councils are formed. The BBC reports that parties now have 14 days from the announcement of results to negotiate coalition arrangements.
A verdict delivered with humility
Speaking as counting got under way, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who also leads the ANC, said the party accepted the outcome. "We accept the will of the people however concerning it might be," he said, according to the BBC, describing the decline as concerning and saying the party accepted the verdict "with humility."
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula was blunter, calling the result "a very catastrophic outcome" and acknowledging the party had seen the damage approaching. The BBC reports that he pointed to the high cost of living and said middle-class voters had turned away from the ANC in large numbers.
The opposition picture was mixed. The Democratic Alliance finished second with 24.64% and held on to Cape Town, but its national share rose only slightly from 21.83% in 2021 and remained below the 26.9% it recorded in 2016, the BBC reports. Former president Jacob Zuma's MK party took third place with 9.76% and displaced the ANC as the leading party in Durban. The Economic Freedom Fighters, led by Julius Malema, came fourth with 6.22%.
Turnout reached 52.29%, up from 45.9% in 2021, when the pandemic affected voting, according to the BBC.
Service delivery and a changing electorate
Analysts quoted by the BBC traced the ANC's losses mainly to failures in basic services and infrastructure, including water, electricity and sanitation. Political analyst Susan Booysen said these problems had affected daily life across suburbs and townships alike, and described the result as a severe message to the governing party at municipal, metropolitan and national levels.
Analyst William Gumede framed the outcome as the close of the liberation-movement era in South African politics. He suggested the ANC could fall to second place by 2029 and warned it might descend into prolonged internal conflict. Gumede also pointed to a shift in voting behaviour, noting that the DA, long associated with white voters, drew more black support, which he described as movement toward post-racial voting patterns.
The BBC reports that attention now centres on coalition talks, particularly in Gauteng, the country's economic heartland, where the ANC could be excluded from power in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Gumede summed up the moment by saying voters no longer want a single dominant party and instead expect parties to work together.
The ANC will also choose a new leader next year as Ramaphosa's term as party head ends; he is due to remain national president until the 2029 general election.
What to watch: how the ANC fares in the Gauteng coalition negotiations, and whether the party's internal leadership race accelerates its decline or steadies it.
