South Africa announces local election results, more than half of towns now have hung parliaments

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa announced the results of the 2026 local government election on the evening of the 8th. The ruling party African National Congress (ANC)'s vote share dropped from 45.59% in 2021 to 30.76%, but it still ranked first. More than half of the town councils in South Africa have "hung councils", which means that no political party obtains an absolute majority of seats, and the formation of local government faces multi-party negotiations.

According to the announced results, the Democratic Alliance ranked second with 24.64% of the vote, and the National Spear Party ranked third with 9.76%. The ANC won an absolute majority in 53 towns and the Democratic Alliance won an absolute majority in 12 towns.

Mosoto Moepi, chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, announced that evening that 212 of the country's 213 town councils had completed results confirmation, and a polling station in the Northern Cape Province would re-vote due to damaged ballots.

In this election, the political landscape of South Africa's eight major cities has undergone significant changes. The Democratic Alliance leads in five cities: Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekulhuleni, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay; the African National Congress leads in Buffalo City and Mangaung; and the National Spear Party leads in Ethekweni, where Durban is located.

Among the eight major cities, only Cape Town has an absolute majority of seats won by the Democratic Alliance, and the remaining seven cities need to determine the governing arrangements through party negotiations. In Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, the Democratic Alliance ranked first with 34.79% of the vote, followed by the African National Congress and the Action South Africa Party with 20.25% and 16.27% respectively. The Democratic Alliance won 91 of the 270 seats on the Joburg City Council, falling short of the 136 seats needed to govern independently.

South African President Ramaphosa called on all political parties that day to put people's interests above the struggle for political power in negotiations to form local governments. He pointed out that this election was held at a time when the South African people are facing challenges such as high living costs, high unemployment, and insufficient public services in some areas; the people look forward to safer communities, well-maintained public infrastructure, booming enterprises, and more development opportunities for young people.