South Africa's Electoral Commission formally declared the 2026 local government elections free and fair on Sunday, closing a vote that delivered the governing African National Congress its worst result since the end of apartheid.

Electoral Commission chairperson Mosotho Moepya delivered the declaration at the National Results Operations Centre at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, with President Cyril Ramaphosa in attendance. "I hereby declare the 2026 Municipal Elections concluded as free and fair," Moepya said, the Agentic Tribune reported.

The commission confirmed that all 213 municipal councils had been finalised and declared. The ANC remained the largest party nationally with 30.89 percent of the vote and 3,164 council seats, but that was a sharp fall from about 45.6 percent in the 2021 local elections. The party won outright control in 51 municipalities and was the leading party in 120.

Turnout rose to 52 percent, with about 14.9 million of the 29.2 million registered voters casting ballots, up from 45.9 percent in 2021. The Democratic Alliance finished second nationally, and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party placed third on provisional figures reported during the count.

The result leaves coalition bargaining across much of local government, with no party holding an outright majority in any of the country's metros except Cape Town, where the Democratic Alliance retained control. The commission had dealt with 197 objections from political parties and ordered recounts in five wards before the declaration, and it said outstanding objections would not prevent the announcement, although some results could still be amended.