South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) has taken a narrow lead in early municipal election results, with counting still underway in a test for the party that has dominated the country’s politics since the end of apartheid in 1994.
With around 12% of votes counted early Thursday, the ANC had about 32%, ahead of the Democratic Alliance (DA), which had 31%, according to preliminary results published by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Only a small proportion of voting districts in the populous provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have reported results so far.
The ANC took roughly 46% in the previous municipal elections in 2021. Pre-election research by Ipsos pointed to further losses while suggesting it would remain the largest party, amid anger over crime, corruption, and failing basic services.
Ramaphosa dismissed predictions of further ANC decline at the party’s closing campaign rally on Sunday. “What I am seeing here is that the ANC is going higher and higher,” he told supporters.
The vote followed a court battle over the exclusion of 181 ANC candidates across six municipalities after the party failed to complete the final online submission step before the August 28 deadline. On October 15, the Constitutional Court overturned their exclusion and ordered the IEC to include them on the ballots.
A projection released by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research early Thursday put the ANC’s final share of the proportional representation vote at 31.69% and the DA’s at 25.73%.
The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 for the first time in the three decades since the end of white minority rule. It now leads a ten-party Government of National Unity, including the DA, South Africa’s second-largest party, alongside the Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, and six smaller groups.
A national lead does not guarantee control of individual municipalities. Where parties fall short of council majorities, coalition negotiations will determine who governs and oversees essential services.
Speaking on voting day, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said national officials would direct coalition talks. DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille said her party sought an outright majority but would assess coalition options if necessary.
The municipal vote comes ahead of the ANC’s 2027 leadership contest, when Ramaphosa’s term as party leader ends, and South Africa’s next national election in 2029.