What ‘catastrophic’ South Africa local election results mean for ANC

What the report says

South Africa’s African National Congress has suffered its worst local election performance since the end of apartheid, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting on the 9 November 2026 vote. The party still finished as the largest nationally, but it fell to about 31% of the vote, while the Democratic Alliance won roughly 25%. The results are being seen as a major setback for the ANC after decades of dominance in national and local politics.

The election decided control of municipal councils in the country’s biggest cities and districts. Al Jazeera reported that the ANC lost its leading position in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, while the DA kept Cape Town. The outcome means the ANC and DA, or other smaller parties, will likely need to negotiate coalitions to govern in many municipalities within a 14-day period before councils are formed.

The report links the ANC’s decline to voter anger over poor service delivery, corruption allegations and broader frustration with government performance. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who also leads the ANC, said coalition talks should be handled with humility and an emphasis on public interest. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera said the vote was also a warning that the country is moving away from one-party dominance and toward a more fragmented political system.

More broadly, the result suggests South Africa’s politics are entering a coalition era, with possible trade-offs between stability and accountability. That shift could pressure parties to focus more on governance and local services, while also increasing the risk of political gridlock.