ANC hits a record low in local polls as hung councils double

The Mail & Guardian, drawing on final results from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), reported that the ANC won 3,246 council seats. The Democratic Alliance (DA) came second with 24.64% and 1,695 seats, and Jacob Zuma's MK party third with 9.76% and 785 seats. The EFF took 6.22% and ActionSA 5.67%. Turnout was put at 15.6 million voters.

According to the same report, a single party holds an outright majority in only 74 of 213 municipalities: the ANC will govern 53 on its own, the DA 12, the IFP 5 and MK 3. That breakdown implies 139 hung councils, yet the headline says 142; the gap was not explained. Africanews, citing AFP, reported that the ANC failed to win an outright majority in any of the 8 metros. The DA held its majority in Cape Town and came first in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, while MK came first in eThekwini.

The figures contain 2 separate discrepancies. One AFP-based Africanews report puts the ANC at 32.5% and the DA at 22.9%, while another on the same site, citing the IEC, gives 30.8% and 24.6%; Talay uses the IEC figure. Africanews said parties have a legal deadline of 14 days to form working administrations in hung councils. AFP said the ANC's vote fell by about 14 points from the 2021 local elections, a gap based on AFP's own 32.5% figure.

In Talay's reading, the election matters for markets through the balance sheets of the 213 municipalities. Briefly, citing a parliamentary reply from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, reported that 83 municipalities are in Eskom's formal debt-collection process. Of the 71 that joined the Treasury's debt-relief programme, only 10 pay their current bills in full. The largest debtor, Emalahleni, owed 13.6 billion rand as of 31 August. If budget and collection decisions stall in 142 hung councils, that debt stays on Eskom's books directly and on the Treasury's indirectly.