South Africa's ANC Posts Worst Election Result Ever in Municipal Vote

South Africa's governing African National Congress recorded its worst election result ever in municipal elections held Wednesday, November 4, 2026. It won roughly 30% of the vote with 99% of ballots counted, while its main rival, the Democratic Alliance, took about 25%. The Electoral Commission said the ANC lost its majority in six of the eight metropolitan regions. No outright winner emerged in several major cities, so coalition talks are expected to form municipal governments. The ANC remains the largest party overall in a contest involving hundreds of parties, but it once commanded 70% of the vote and won 45% in the last local elections. Voters blamed it for failing to deliver water and electricity, and for unemployment, crime and corruption. President Cyril Ramaphosa had not directly addressed the result, but in his weekly letter he acknowledged that municipal failures had contributed to declining public trust in democratic governance. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters on Saturday that the outcome was very catastrophic and that the party cannot ask for trust based on its history.

The New York Times, the left-leaning source, leads with the scale of the defeat and what it means long term. Its headline says South African politics may never be the same, and it describes a once-dominant party credited with ending apartheid becoming just another party. The available excerpt gives no vote figures, quotes or service-delivery details. Deutsche Welle and The Hindu, the alternative sources, supply those specifics: percentages, the metropolitan losses, Ramaphosa's letter and Mbalula's remarks. The Hindu adds the Mandela legacy and the prospect that the ANC might one day not be the biggest party. Both sides present the result as historic. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had, focusing on the ANC's decline and its causes.