South Africa is waking up to a political map that Nelson Mandela’s party no longer controls. The ANC coalition talks now under way across the country follow the 4 November local elections, in which the African National Congress recorded its weakest result ever. It still finished first with about 30.8% of the vote, but first place has stopped meaning power.
A Giant Loses Its Grip
The Democratic Alliance came second on roughly 24.6%, while the MK Party took around 9.8%. For a movement built on the liberation struggle, the slide is hard to dismiss. It follows 2024, when the ANC lost its national majority for the first time since apartheid ended. Ask residents why and the answers are practical rather than ideological: taps that run dry, electricity that cuts out, crumbling roads and too few jobs. Voters, it seems, are done waiting.
120 Councils, 14 Days
Now the arithmetic matters more than the slogans. About 120 municipal councils have no outright winner, and parties have a legal window of 14 days to form working administrations. Mayoral posts, council speakers and committee seats are all up for negotiation.
Political analyst Xolelwa Kashe-Katiya has cautioned that rushing these deals could produce fragile arrangements. South Africans know the pattern well: a coalition wobbles, a mayor is removed, a budget is delayed, and residents wait even longer for services they already pay for.
The EFF, ActionSA and other smaller parties may end up as kingmakers in several councils. That gives them real leverage, but also a test. Can they bargain for influence without abandoning the promises they campaigned on?
What Happens Next
The DA now has stronger bargaining power, and the MK Party has shown it is no flash in the pan. The ANC, meanwhile, must decide whether it can rebuild public trust or keep drifting. Whoever lands in the mayor’s office will face the same questions: who fixes the water, who keeps the lights on, and who answers when they do not?
The era of one party dominating municipal South Africa is fading. What replaces it will depend less on history and more on whether leaders can cooperate and deliver. For anyone across the continent watching one of Africa’s biggest democracies, it is a story worth following closely.
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