South Africa elections: ANC marks its worst-ever performance

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) turned in a historically poor election performance, with the the final tally published on Sunday giving them less than 31% of the vote in Wednesday's municipal polls.

Their closes rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), won just under 25% of the vote.

The ANC also lost its majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions, South Africa's Electoral Commission said on Saturday. With no outright winner declared in several major cities, politicians are expected enter tough coalition talks to form municipal governments.

While the ANC remains the most popular party in the country, they have been struggling with growing backlash from voters. In 2026, many South Africans are frustrated by water and electricity shortages, with the ANC taking the blame for the poor state of municipalities. High unemployment, crime, and widespread corruption are high on the public agenda.

ANC leader, and South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has not yet addressed his party's poor performance. In his weekly presidential letter, however, he admitted that "municipal failures have contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance."

On Saturday, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters that the ANC needs to work on winning back public confidence.

"We cannot ask the people to trust us merely because of our history," Mbalula said.

"This has been a very catastrophic outcome for the ANC ... as much as we are the largest party, it has been catastrophic for the movement," he added.

The ANC had governed with an absolute majority for most of its history up until the general election in 2024 saw it lose an outright parliamentary majority for the first time in South Africa's democratic era.

"This is the most severe result that the ANC would have feared," political analyst Daniel Silke told the AFP news agency.

"It's the ANC's worst result in history," Silke said, adding that the result will undermine the ANC's ability to exert authority on the local and national level. The results could also provide a bellwether of voter sentiment ahead of the 2029 general elections.

Once led by Nelson Mandela, the ANC was instrumental in ending apartheid, and took and power in 1994 after South Africa became a democracy.

But over the past decade, it has steadily performed worse in one election after another. In 2024, the ANC secured just over 40% in the 2024 national polls and 46% at the previous municipal elections in 2021.

After losing the absolute majority in 2024, the ANC formed a cross-party national unity government with all the parties represented in parliament, which is still in power.

The ANC's decline comes amid disillusionment over corruption, mismanagement and high unemployment. Smaller parties have also emerged across South Africa's political landscape, cutting into the ANC's voter base.

The pro-business, center-right DA is set to keep control of Cape Town after winning an absolute majority. It also performed well in the capital, Pretoria, and economic hub of Johannesburg, and is expected to form coalitions that exclude the ANC.

"All of the cut and thrust that comes with the election is now over, and it is time now... to put together governments that can actually fix these towns and cities," DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis told reporters.

"We have already reached out to many parties over the last 24 hours and will continue to do so today," he said.