ANC’s national vote share falls to 31.8% as DA climbs to 24.1% with 81% counted
South Africa’s political landscape is shifting as the 2026 Local Government Elections reveal changing voter support across the country.
The ANC remains the biggest party nationally, but its support is down by 13.76 percentage points on 2021, according to the IEC’s live results.
The African National Congress (ANC) is leading the 2026 Municipal Elections, but with far less support than in 2021, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results dashboard.
With 81% of votes counted at 13:38 on November 6, the ANC has 7,085,894 votes.
It leads in 75 councils, controls 28 outright and has won 1,986 seats.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is second with 5,374,574 votes (24.14%), up by 2.48 points compared to 2021.
It leads in 24 councils, controls 10 and has 893 seats.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) is third with 2,068,449 votes (9.29%).
It leads in 13 councils, controls three and has 408 seats.
Other parties
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have 1,381,528 votes (6.21%), down 4.10 percentage points.
The party does not lead or control any council and has 204 seats.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has 1,094,738 votes (4.92%), down 0.72 percentage points.
It leads seven councils, controls one and has 262 seats.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has 679,829 votes (3.05%), up 0.71 percentage points, with 108 seats.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has 471,269 votes (2.12%), up 1.15 percentage points, and leads one council with 147 seats.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has 558,304 votes (2.51%) and 101 seats.
The Service Delivery Party (SDP) has 114,044 votes (0.51%) and leads one council.
Rise Tsantsabane Communities (RTC) has 13,570 votes (0.06%) and controls one council with nine seats.
Coalitions likely in many councils
Only 28 of the 75 councils the ANC leads are under its outright control, and the DA controls 10 of the 24 it leads.
That suggests many municipalities may need coalition agreements to form governments.
The national picture differs from Ekurhuleni, where the DA received 29.76% of the combined ward and PR votes, ahead of the ANC on 22.28%, according to the metro’s election summary.
The IEC says 19% of votes are still to be counted.
Figures are correct as of 13:38 on November 6, and will change as counting continues.
