SOUTH AFRICA · LOCAL ELECTIONS
Key Facts
- Turnout Turnout was 52%, up from 45.9% in 2021, among 29.2 million registered voters.
- Seats The ruling African National Congress won 3,164 of 10,526 council seats, the centre-right Democratic Alliance 1,527.
- Challenges By 7 November the IEC had 197 objections: 54 dismissed, 8 withdrawn, 2 upheld.
- Next Douglas, a Northern Cape town, repeats one voting district on Wednesday 18 November 2026.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, a betting exchange, prices ActionSA party founder Herman Mashaba near 45% for Johannesburg mayor, thinly traded (14 November, 1:45 p.m. ET).
South Africa’s city-council vote ended with higher turnout and few clear winners. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the independent body that runs elections, put turnout at 52% when it declared the results on Sunday 8 November 2026.
For US readers, the vote leaves the ruling African National Congress (ANC) with less than a third of the national vote, which matters for cities where American firms do business. The detail on seats and recounts shows why coalition deals now matter more than the vote itself.
What the Final Count Shows
Voters went to the polls on Wednesday 4 November 2026, and the IEC says 29.2 million people were registered. It put turnout at 52%, a rise of 6.1 percentage points on the 45.9% of the last local vote in 2021.
Spoilt ballots, the ones that could not be counted, were 1.84% of the total. The commission declared the election free and fair, its formal verdict that the vote was run properly.
Voters chose 10,526 council seats across 213 municipalities, the local governments that run towns and cities. The ANC won 3,164 seats on 30.89% of the vote.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), a centre-right party, took 1,527 seats on 24.60%. The MK Party (short for uMkhonto weSizwe), founded by former president Jacob Zuma, won 701 seats on 9.61%, ahead of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party, with 505 seats on 6.25%, and ActionSA, a party founded by Herman Mashaba, with 219 seats on 5.68%.
Who Took the Big Cities
South Africa has eight metros, its largest city councils. In the results we found, only Cape Town gave one party a majority, the DA.
In Johannesburg the DA finished first but without a majority, so it needs partners. Our final metro results report has the vote shares for each metro.
The DA also leads in Tshwane, the capital region around Pretoria, and in Ekurhuleni, the industrial belt east of Johannesburg. In eThekwini, the metro around Durban, the MK Party finished first but fell short of a majority.
That leaves the other seven metros with hung councils, where no party holds a majority. Across all 213 councils, the IEC says 72 have an outright majority party and 127 are hung.
Our explainer on how South Africa’s coalitions work shows how earlier deals worked, and our Johannesburg talks report tracks the current round. Both explain the parties involved in plain terms.
What the Objections Led To
Parties had until 17:00 on Friday 6 November to file formal objections to the count, the legal route to challenge a result. By 15:00 on Saturday 7 November the IEC had received 197, dismissed 54, seen 8 withdrawn and upheld 2.
Alongside the two upheld objections, the commission ordered recounts in five wards. The IEC’s statement of 7 November lists Tshwane (Gauteng) wards 57 and 102, ward 19 in the Mangaung metro around Bloemfontein, ward 4 in Thaba Chweu (Mpumalanga) and ward 12 in Breede Valley (Western Cape).
A ward is the smallest area that elects its own councillor. Mosotho Moepya, the commission’s chairperson, said the seats assigned in the provisional results could still change once objections were decided.
One case ended in a new vote. After ballot papers were destroyed at a voting station in Douglas, in the Siyancuma municipality, the IEC ordered a repeat at the Bongani Gemeenskapsaal voting district on Wednesday 18 November 2026, with voting from 07:00 to 21:00 and special votes on Tuesday 17 November from 08:00 to 17:00.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a prediction market where users bet real money, shows Herman Mashaba, founder of the ActionSA party, at about 45% to become Johannesburg’s next mayor, though the market is thin: the last trade was 36%, with offers from 34% to 56%. DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille is priced near 13%, with US$176,492 traded across the market (14 November, 1:45 p.m. ET).
These prices are bets, not polls. Zille traded between about 54% and 60% from 10 to 11 November, then fell to about 13% by 14 November while Mashaba rose from about 18% to 45%.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for You
City councils set tariffs and sign contracts for electricity, water, roads and ports, so a hung council can slow decisions for US firms operating in Johannesburg, Tshwane or Durban. The vote chose local governments only, so it did not change who sits in the national cabinet.
For investors in South African assets through US funds, the signal is the ANC’s national share of 30.89%, set against a higher turnout. Councils must meet to elect mayors within 14 days of the 8 November declaration, which by our count means by Sunday 22 November.
What Is Not Known
We do not know whether any of the five recounts moved a seat, because the IEC has not said so in the statements we found. We use the national seat table in the chairperson’s declaration, and a government summary of it carries different seat counts that we did not use.
We could not read the per-metro tables on the IEC results site, so we give no metro seat counts or vote shares. In the reports we found, no party had a confirmed majority deal for Johannesburg, Tshwane or Ekurhuleni as of 14 November.
More: South Africa news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Was Turnout in South Africa’s 2026 Local Election?
The IEC put turnout at 52%, with 29.2 million people registered to vote. That is up from 45.9% in 2021.
Which Party Won the Most Council Seats?
The ANC won 3,164 of 10,526 seats on 30.89% of the vote. The DA came second with 1,527 seats and the MK Party third with 701.
Did Objections Change the Result?
By 7 November the IEC had received 197 objections, upheld 2 and ordered recounts in five wards. We found no confirmed change to any seat.
When Is the Douglas Revote?
The IEC set the repeat vote for one Douglas voting district on Wednesday 18 November 2026. Ballot papers there were destroyed before the count.
Sources: Electoral Commission of South Africa, statement on results processing and objections, 7 November 2026; Electoral Commission of South Africa, chairperson’s declaration of the 2026 local government election results, 8 November 2026; Electoral Commission of South Africa, statement on objections and recounts, 7 November 2026; Electoral Commission of South Africa, results dashboard (results.elections.org.za); Polymarket, Next Mayor of Johannesburg market, read 14 November 2026, 1:45 p.m. ET.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error