Local elections: Democratic Alliance wins 44% in Nelson Mandela Bay
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SABC News
The Democratic Alliance leads in Nelson Mandela Bay with 44% of the vote and 53 seats, against 32 for the African National Congress. The party nevertheless remains below an outright majority on the municipal council, according to results reported by SABC News on 6 November.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa's main opposition party, won 44% of the vote in Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape province, following the 2026 municipal elections. With all ballots counted in the metro, the party leads the African National Congress (ANC) by 19 percentage points, according to SABC News.
The DA now has 53 seats on the municipal council, while the ANC has fallen to 32 seats, after losing 16. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have seven elected members, one fewer than in the previous term. The South African Communist Party (SACP), which contested separately for the first time in the metro, secured four seats, as many as the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which doubled its representation. The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) each won three seats.
The SACP said it was encouraged by its ranking among the metro's four main political formations. The party described its result as significant given its limited resources. Despite its lead, the DA does not have an outright majority on the municipal council.
These results come amid an election marked by the absence of a majority in many South African municipalities. On 6 November, the 110 municipal councils without a majority also illustrated the political fragmentation resulting from the 2026 local elections. On 5 November, the ANC won 31.83% of the vote nationally, ahead of the DA.
