Local elections: Mandela's ANC suffers historic defeat in local elections

Johannesburg. The former party of anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela suffered a historic defeat in local elections in South Africa.

After 98 percent of the votes were counted, the African National Congress (ANC), at whose head former President Mandela led South Africa to democracy in 1994, received only 30.95 percent of the votes, as the electoral commission announced. The white-led liberal party Democratic Alliance (DA) achieved 24.56 percent nationwide.

The ANC, which has dominated politics in South Africa as the largest party for more than 30 years, has also lost the majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions, according to the electoral commission. In the capital Pretoria and the economic metropolis Johannesburg, the DA is clearly ahead and is expected to enter into a coalition that excludes the ANC. In the tourist metropolis of Cape Town, the DA won an absolute majority, while in the port city of Durban, former President Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party received the majority of votes.

According to political observers, voters punished the ANC for the high unemployment and crime in the country of 65 million people, deep corruption and the dysfunctional service sector. In the 2021 local elections, the ANC received just under 46 percent.

The ANC's bitter defeat does not come as a complete surprise. In parliamentary elections in June 2024, the ANC lost its absolute majority for the first time. Instead of a classic coalition, the ANC formed a cross-party government with all parties represented in parliament, which has governed the country at the southern tip of Africa ever since.