Local elections: 110 South African councils without a majority
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
With about 95% of the votes counted, 110 South African municipal councils had no outright majority. The ANC remained first with 31.22% of the vote, ahead of the Democratic Alliance on 24.43% and the MK Party on 9.61%, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa.
With 95% of the ballots counted on Friday evening, the ANC, South Africa’s ruling party, had 31.22% of the vote, or 8,464,323 votes, and controlled 44 municipal councils, according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa, the national electoral commission, cited by IOL. The DA, the main opposition party, was second with 24.43% and 6,615,253 votes, with 1,204 seats and 11 councils controlled without an alliance. Jacob Zuma’s MK Party had 9.61%, with 2,602,676 votes, 614 seats and three councils under its control.
KwaZulu-Natal accounted for some of the ANC’s difficulties. The MK Party led there with 34.6% and 1,931,825 votes, 500 seats and three councils under its control, while also leading in 16 others. The IFP, KwaZulu-Natal’s historic party, had 21.37% and 1,223,511 votes, with five councils under its control and leading in 16 others. The ANC fell to 20.83% there, or 1,195,181 votes and 308 seats, with one council under its control and 28 of the 44 councils without a majority.
Willies Mchunu, the MK Party’s provincial coordinator in KwaZulu-Natal, said his party would approach coalition negotiations with an “open mind”, accepting compromises rather than rigid positions. Political analyst Louw Nel of Oxford Economics Africa said the ANC was achieving a result below already low expectations and attributed its decline to corruption scandals, crime and persistent failures in basic services, notably water and electricity.
The new balance of power comes after the ANC had been credited with 31.83% in results published on 5 November, with the results putting the ANC at 31.83%. In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC had also announced on 6 November a renewal after its electoral setbacks, promising renewal after the electoral setbacks.
