South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) led the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the early count from Wednesday’s municipal elections and remained ahead in later counts, but results were incomplete and control of many councils was still undecided.
The November 4 vote will decide who serves on municipal councils across the country. It will shape local government and the coalitions needed where no party wins a majority. At 09:22 GMT on Thursday, 28% of votes had been counted.
The ANC had about 32% nationally, compared with the DA’s 28%, according to results cited in a Reuters report. A later Thursday update on News24’s results map showed the ANC at 31.74% and the DA at 26.26%. Both figures were preliminary as counting continued.
If the early 32% figure holds, the ANC would be down about 14 percentage points from 2021. In 2021, it recorded its worst municipal-election result up to that point. Early reports also warned that relatively few districts in populous Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal had reported results.
The DA showed strength in several major cities. In KwaZulu-Natal, the uMkhonto weSizwe party and Inkatha Freedom Party were ahead of the ANC. Analysts said crime, corruption and poor basic services had weighed on the ANC.
Those services included water and electricity. The Electoral Commission said votes were still being counted, totals added up and results checked. The national results and the local coalitions they may produce could change as more results came in.