South Africa's African National Congress is heading for the worst election result in its history, with provisional figures from Wednesday's municipal elections showing its support collapsing to about 31 per cent nationally.

A historic low for the ANC

With about 96 per cent of votes counted, the ANC stood at about 31 per cent on the proportional representation ballot, according to a tally of Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) data. That is down from 45.59 per cent in 2021. The DA was second on about 24.5 per cent, followed by the MK Party on about 9.7 per cent, the EFF on 6.2 per cent and ActionSA on 5.7 per cent.

DA leads the metros, MK takes Durban

The DA was the clearest winner in the cities, leading in five of the country's eight metropolitan municipalities: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay. In Cape Town, the only metro the DA governed outright, it was on course to retain its majority with between 57 and 60 per cent of the vote. In Johannesburg it held about 37 to 39 per cent, and in Nelson Mandela Bay about 44.5 per cent against the ANC's 25.5 per cent.

In eThekwini, which includes Durban, the MK Party led with about 41 per cent. In Buffalo City, the first metro to complete its count, the ANC finished largest on 42.02 per cent but lost the outright majority it had held with 59.43 per cent in 2021.

Coalition talks ahead

The IEC is expected to declare the final results on Sunday. Newly elected councils must then hold their first meetings and elect mayors within 14 days, giving parties roughly two weeks to strike deals in the hung councils.

[Source: atlanticdigest.com](https://atlanticdigest.com/politics/south-africa-local-elections-anc-slumps-to-about-31-in-its-worst-nightmare-as-da-surges-in-the-cities-and-coalition-battles-loom/) | [Source: ctnews.co.za](https://ctnews.co.za/election-results-anc-loses-ground-da-gains-popularity-but-who-holds-the-power/)