Politics
ANC drops to about 32% in South African local elections with most ballots counted
November 6, 2026 at 01:25 PM
Coverage
2 reports · 1 in Arabic, 1 in English · over 6 hours
With most ballots counted, the African National Congress has fallen to about 32% nationally and the Democratic Alliance is leading in most of the largest cities.
- With more than 80% of ballots counted, the ANC stood at 31.8% nationally, about 14 percentage points below its 2021 result.
- The Democratic Alliance was on 24.1% and Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe party on 9.3%, with turnout estimated at 54.5%.
- Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that the Democratic Alliance had won about 58% of the vote in the city.
- ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said on polling day there would be no negotiations with any party, assigning coalition talks to seven officials.