ANC leads South Africa's local polls but records all-time election low: final results

The African National Congress came in first place in South Africa's local elections, but suffered its worst ever electoral setback, according to final results on Saturday. While still the largest party in the country, the once dominant ANC has won just 30.9% of the vote. Frustrated voters have turned to the Democratic Alliance, the MK Party and other smaller lists. The ANC's performance marks a drop of roughly 14 percentage points from its 2021 local election results. The party has failed to win an outright majority in any of the eight metropolitan municipalities, but it finished ahead in four of them, including Johannesburg, Mangaung and Buffalo City. The Centre-Right Democratic Alliance is the second largest party with about 24.6% of the vote. The party is leading in Nelson Mandela Bay and has secured a majority in Cape Town. Former President Jacob Zuma's MK party is finishing in third place nationally with around 9.7% of the vote and is leading in the metro of Ekurhuleni. The results point to a fragmented political landscape. With the results now in, the parties will need to engage in coalition negotiations to form governing alliances.