South Africa’s ANC Suffers Historic Election Setback

WHO:

ABC News - South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), the party associated with Nelson Mandela and the movement that led the country out of apartheid, remained the largest party by overall vote share.

ABC News - ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula called the outcome “very catastrophic” and said the party needed “to be humble, to hear our people and respect them” and “earn again through service and not through slogans the trust people have lent to others.”

ABC News - Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said his party had “taken a big step forward” toward becoming South Africa’s biggest party.

ABC News - The MK Party, led by expelled former ANC member and former South African President Jacob Zuma, had the third-largest vote share.

ABC News - Helen Zille, 75, the DA’s former leader, was the party’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate.

DW.com - South African President and ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa had not addressed the poor results as of the article’s reported Saturday evening. He had written that “municipal failures have contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance.”

DW.com - Political analyst Daniel Silke called the result the ANC’s “worst result in history” and said it would undermine the party’s authority locally and nationally.

BBC News - Ramaphosa said the election verdict must be respected; the ANC secretary-general described the result as “catastrophic.”

WHAT:

ABC News - In near-complete counting, with 99% of ballots counted, the ANC had around 30% of the vote and the DA around 25%. Final results were expected later that Sunday.

DW.com - With 98% of votes counted, the ANC had just over 30%; the DA was at 24%. The ANC had lost its majority in six of eight metropolitan regions.

ABC News - The ANC was on course to lose about 15 percentage points from its previous local-election result and roughly one-third of its support compared with five years earlier. It had previously received 70% of the vote, 45% in the prior local elections, and 46% in the 2021 municipal elections, according to DW.com.

ABC News - In the 2024 national election, the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time; DW.com reported it received just over 40%. The result led to a cross-party national unity government.

ABC News - More than 500 parties contested the local elections. Seven other major parties shared around 30% of the vote, while the MK Party received around 10%.

DW.com - The DA retained an absolute majority in Cape Town and was expected to pursue municipal coalitions excluding the ANC. Hill-Lewis said the party had contacted other parties about forming local governments.

ABC News - The ANC was on course to lose its position as the largest party in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni. Johannesburg could have a hung council, like other major cities, requiring coalition agreements.

WHERE:

ABC News - The election selected councilors for South Africa’s eight largest cities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.

ABC News - The ANC faced losses in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg; the DA retained Cape Town.

WHY:

ABC News - Voters cited failures in basic municipal services, including water and electricity outages, broken roads and streetlights, and uncollected refuse; corruption scandals connected to the ANC were also major issues.

DW.com - Voter concerns also included high unemployment, crime, corruption, mismanagement, and shortages of water and electricity.

HOW:

ABC News - Zille’s Johannesburg campaign included snorkeling in a water-filled trench in a city road to highlight service failures.

DW.com - Municipal governments were expected to be formed through complex coalition negotiations because no party was on course to win a majority in several major cities.

(UPDATED November 9, 2026 09:59 UTC)

South Africa’s ANC remained the largest party, but suffered a historic local-election setback. With most ballots counted, it held about 30 percent, ahead of the DA. Voters cited failing services and corruption; coalition talks loom in several major cities.