South Africa’s ANC Suffers Worst-Ever Defeat as Voters Hand It Less Than a Third of the Vote

South Africa’s ruling party has suffered the worst election defeat in its history. The African National Congress (ANC), the party that led the country out of apartheid under Nelson Mandela, won less than a third of the national vote in local elections held on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, according to near-final results.

With more than 80 percent of ballots counted by Friday, 6 November, the ANC stood at 31.8 percent of the national vote. That is almost 14 percentage points below its showing in the last local elections in 2021, and far below the 40 percent it won in the 2024 national elections. As counting continued into Friday, the figure barely moved, staying close to 31 percent with 90 percent of votes declared.

The result marks another stage in the steady decline of a party that once dominated South African politics. It has led every national government since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Now, for the first time, it has fallen below a third of the vote in any election, national or local.

The results in numbers

The headline figures, reported by The Guardian from Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) data, show a clear picture:

• African National Congress (ANC): 31.8 percent of the national vote, with more than 80 percent of ballots counted.
• Democratic Alliance (DA): 24.1 percent, the centre-right opposition party, in second place.
• uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party: 9.3 percent, in its first-ever municipal election.

Later counts told the same story. With 96 percent of the national vote counted, the ANC was on 31.2 percent, the DA on 24.5 percent and MK on 9.7 percent.

The scale of the ANC’s fall is striking. In the 2021 local elections it won 45.6 percent — itself a record low at the time. In the 2024 national elections it fell to 40 percent and lost its parliamentary majority for the first time, forcing it into a coalition government. Now it has lost another nine points in two years.

Political analyst Daniel Silke described the outcome as the ANC’s worst result in history. “This represents a decline of nearly 14 percentage points from the 2021 municipal polls, marking the sharpest single-election drop in the party’s post-apartheid history,” one analysis of the results noted.

Turnout was higher than last time. The election commission estimated that 54.5 percent of registered voters cast a ballot, up from 46 percent in the 2021 local elections. More people voted — and more of them voted against the ruling party.

Johannesburg and Durban: the big cities turn

The most dramatic results came in South Africa’s biggest cities, where the ANC’s losses were even heavier than the national average.

In Johannesburg, the country’s commercial capital and biggest city, the DA led with 40 percent of the vote with just over half the ballots counted. The ANC was second on just 17.5 percent, followed by ActionSA on 15.5 percent. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a respected South African think tank, projected the DA would finish with 34 percent in the city, the ANC with 20 percent and ActionSA with 16.8 percent. Even on those projections, the DA would lead the city but fall short of the votes needed to govern on its own, meaning coalition talks would follow.

In eThekwini, the municipality that includes Durban, Jacob Zuma’s MK party led with 41 percent with half the votes counted. It was a remarkable result for a party contesting municipal elections for the first time.

The ANC was also on course to lose its position as the largest party in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the two most populous provinces in the country. Gauteng includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, the economic heart of South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal is the home province of former president Jacob Zuma, and the base of his MK party.

In Buffalo City, in the Eastern Cape, the ANC fell below a majority for the first time, according to results from the IEC.

The DA, meanwhile, held on to Cape Town, the city it has governed for years, and expanded its support from 2021.

Why voters turned away

The reasons for the ANC’s defeat are not a mystery. They are the same problems South Africans have complained about for years, and they have grown worse rather than better.

Unemployment is high. South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, and young people have been hit hardest. Jobs were one of the central issues in the campaign.

Crime is a daily fear. Violent crime, including murder and robbery, affects communities across the country, and many voters say the police and the courts are not keeping up.

Corruption has damaged trust. A string of corruption scandals over many years has left voters convinced that public money is being stolen rather than spent on services. The ANC has promised to clean up its ranks, but many voters no longer believe the promises.

Basic services are failing. This was a local election, and local services were at the heart of it. Municipal councils are responsible for water, electricity, road maintenance and rubbish collection. In many towns and cities, taps run dry, power cuts are common, potholes go unfilled and rubbish piles up. Wednesday’s vote was, in large part, a verdict on those failures.

“High unemployment, crime, corruption and poor local service delivery have all contributed to voters turning away from the party,” The Guardian reported.

The result also reflects a deeper change. For decades, many South Africans voted for the ANC out of loyalty to the party that freed them from apartheid. That loyalty is fading as a new generation of voters, with no memory of apartheid, judges the party on what it delivers today rather than what it did in the past.

What the result means for the ANC

The ANC’s decline has been steady, and each election has set a new low. The party won 45.6 percent in the 2021 local elections. It won 40 percent in the 2024 national elections. Now it has won about 31 percent in the 2026 local elections.

The pattern is clear: every time South Africans vote, fewer of them vote for the ANC. The party that once won two-thirds of the vote now struggles to win a third.

The defeat is also a personal blow for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who leads both the country and the ANC. He took over the party in 2017 promising to renew it and root out corruption. The 2024 result forced him into a coalition government at national level. This result will raise fresh questions inside the party about his leadership and about whether the ANC can recover before the next national election, due in 2029.

The rise of the MK party adds to the ANC’s problems. Jacob Zuma, the former president who was expelled from the ANC, founded MK before the 2024 elections. The party took votes from the ANC in that election, and it has now done the same in its first municipal contest, winning almost a tenth of the national vote and leading in eThekwini. The ANC is now losing votes on two fronts: to the DA in the cities, and to MK in KwaZulu-Natal.

For the DA, the result is a success, but a limited one. It is the largest opposition party and it leads in Johannesburg, but at 24 percent nationally it is still well behind where it would need to be to challenge for national power on its own. South African politics is becoming more fragmented, with no single party able to dominate as the ANC once did.

What happens next

The final results are expected to be announced on Sunday, 8 November. The IEC has up to seven days from the vote to announce the final results and allocate council seats.

Then the hard part begins: forming governments. In Johannesburg and many other councils, no party has won a majority. That means weeks of coalition negotiations between parties that often disagree sharply with each other. South Africa has been through this before — after the 2021 local elections, many councils were run by unstable coalitions that collapsed and had to be rebuilt. Voters will be watching to see whether the new coalitions can do better than the old ones at keeping the lights on and the water running.

At national level, the ANC still leads the coalition government formed after the 2024 elections. This local result does not change that government directly. But it changes the balance of power inside it, and it will shape the debate inside the ANC about its future direction.

The next national election is due in 2029. On current trends, the ANC would enter that election weaker than ever. Whether it can recover will depend on whether it can fix the services voters care about most — water, electricity, roads and rubbish — and whether it can convince South Africans that it has dealt with the corruption that has damaged its reputation.

For now, the message from Wednesday’s vote is simple. The party that freed South Africa from apartheid has lost the trust of nearly seven in every ten voters who turned out. The ANC’s long dominance of South African politics is over, and the country’s political future is now genuinely open.

Frequently asked questions

How badly did the ANC do in the 2026 local elections?

With more than 80 percent of ballots counted, the ANC won 31.8 percent of the national vote — its worst result ever, and almost 14 percentage points below its 45.6 percent in the 2021 local elections.

When were the elections held?

Voting took place on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. Final results are expected on Sunday, 8 November.

Who came second and third?

The centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) was second with 24.1 percent, and Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party was third with 9.3 percent in its first municipal election.

Why did the ANC lose so much support?

Voters blamed the party for high unemployment, crime, corruption and failing local services such as water, electricity, road maintenance and rubbish collection.

What happens now?

The Electoral Commission will announce final results, and then parties will negotiate coalitions to run hung councils, including Johannesburg, where no party won a majority.

Has the ANC ever done this badly before?

No. Its previous lows were 45.6 percent in the 2021 local elections and 40 percent in the 2024 national elections. This is its worst result since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Sources

• The Guardian (via Down Under Voices), “ANC faces bruising defeat in South African local elections with 80% of ballots counted”, 6 November 2026: https://www.downundervoices.com/story/anc-faces-bruising-defeat-in-south-african-local-elections-with-80-of-ballots-counted-1wem3a
• News Central TV, “South Africa’s ANC Faces Record Low with Third of Vote”, 6 November 2026: https://newscentraltv.com/south-africas-anc-faces-record-low-with-third-of-vote/
• Journalarta, “ANC faces bruising defeat as support falls below a third”, 6 November 2026: https://journalarta.com/en/2026/11/06/anc-faces-bruising-defeat-south-africa-local-elections/
• Political.org, “South Africa’s ANC Heads Toward Record-Low Vote Share in Local Elections as Democratic Alliance Gains”, 6 November 2026: https://political.org/2026/11/06/south-africas-anc-heads-toward-record-low-vote-share-in-local-elections-as-democratic-alliance-gains/

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.