Heavy setback for ANC in South African municipal elections; coalition talks ahead

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) has suffered a severe setback in last week's municipal elections. Results released on Sunday showed the ANC winning 30.76 percent of the vote; its main rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), took 24.64 percent. Former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe party came third with 9.76 percent.

The ANC, which won 45.59 percent in the 2021 municipal elections, has been losing voter support for 15 years over failures in basic services such as water and electricity. With no party crossing 50 percent in many cities, coalition governments will have to be formed in many places, including the commercial capital Johannesburg. The number of municipalities needing coalitions has more than doubled compared with 2021.

After the results were announced, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he took pride in the strength of multi-party democracy. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called the result "catastrophic" but said the party would not beg for posts in coalition talks. "When people say we have underperformed, the honest answer is not to argue with them; it is to go and fix the house," he said. Parties have 14 days of negotiation time before councils are constituted.

In Johannesburg, the business-friendly DA won about 35 percent of the vote to the ANC's 20 percent. DA senior leader Helen Zille, who campaigned on fixing potholes and leaking water pipes, depends on coalition agreements for her chance of becoming mayor. Third-placed ActionSA (16 percent) will not support Zille, its leader Herman Mashaba said. Analysts see an ANC-DA coalition as the best solution for stability, though the two parties differ on policy on issues including racial redress.

UPDATE: The ANC's roughly 31 per cent share is its worst local-election result, deepening its decline from about 66 per cent in 2006. The Democratic Alliance overtook it as the largest party in Pretoria and Ekurhuleni as well as Johannesburg, while retaining Cape Town. Analysts attribute the losses to corruption and failures in water supply, power, roads, streetlights and waste collection. The DA says it will negotiate with parties committed to clean government and public services. Ramaphosa has urged parties to put residents' needs ahead of political disputes as coalition talks proceed.