South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday in local elections where the African National Congress faced a bruising outcome amid deep discontent over power cuts, water outages and crumbling infrastructure. The former liberation movement led South Africa to power under Nelson Mandela in 1994 as the country’s first black president, but polls showed the party on course to secure less than a third of the vote. This figure marked a steep decline from 45.6 percent at the previous municipal elections in 2021 and 40.2 percent in the 2024 national elections.
Vote fragmentation meant the ANC could still end up leading several city coalition governments while losing control of others. Unstable coalitions already characterised many of the 257 municipalities across the country. Analysts pointed to high turnover rates within these local administrations as a main reason for poor service delivery.
Johannesburg, a city of 4.8 million residents that faced water shortages for more than a week, has had 10 mayors in as many years. The neighbouring municipality of Ekurhuleni has had three mayors since 2021. To the north, in Tshwane, which contains the capital, Pretoria, the mayoralty has rotated between parties four times since 2020. In October, more than 800 people contracted a gastrointestinal illness from contaminated water in Bronkhorstspruit, located in eastern Tshwane.
Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane sit within Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province and its economic engine. The centre-right, white-led Democratic Alliance led polls in all three metros but failed to poll above 40 percent. According to South African media, the ANC national leadership remained open to working with the DA in Gauteng, mirroring the national government coalition where the two parties formed the largest blocs. Local ANC leaders reportedly opposed a tie-up with the DA.
Currently, the ANC governs Gauteng’s three metros through combinations with the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, the populist Patriotic Alliance and ActionSA. In Johannesburg, DA candidate Helen Zille ran a spirited campaign that included viral stunts such as the 75-year-old snorkelling in a pothole and kayaking along a flooded street. Despite the visibility, the former Cape Town mayor faced suspicion from many black voters due to controversial past remarks concerning colonialism. Voters also raised concerns over soaring housing costs in Cape Town, which the DA has run since 2006.
Former Johannesburg DA mayor Herman Mashaba, who leads ActionSA with polling around 10 percent, ruled out working with Zille. Mashaba labelled Zille a racist, an allegation she fervently denied. Meanwhile, the ANC entered the race with three possible mayoral candidates for Johannesburg amid factional infighting.
In the eThekwini metro containing the port city of Durban, the uMkhonto we Sizwe party of former ANC president Jacob Zuma polled above 40 percent. The 84-year-old Zuma, who has weathered and denied numerous corruption allegations, drew many votes away from his former party. The ANC previously won 42 percent in eThekwini in 2021 but polled around 10 percent ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
The DA looked set to retain its majority in Cape Town, though likely falling below the 58 percent share won in 2021 as unaffordable housing turned voters away. South Africa’s electoral commission has one week to announce the final results of the vote, which decides councillors and parties rather than directly electing mayors. Parties will then have two weeks from the announcement to form councils and elect mayors.
