Paradoxically, these are also the parts of South Africa that lag on most developmental indicators. In municipalities in Limpopo and the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape, the ANC consistently won more than 80%. In some parts of the country, it is racking up numbers that one typically sees in elections that are rigged.
In five of the nine provinces, it was the single biggest party in each municipality. However, outside urban areas, the ANC is still by far the party of choice. In Cape Town, it didn’t even manage 20% of the vote, having once governed that city. The ANC also lost its majority in eThekwini (Durban) on the country’s east coast, sinking to 42% of the vote, a 20-point drop compared to 2011, two elections ago. It won barely a third of votes in Johannesburg, a city in which it won nearly 60% two local elections ago. In Johannesburg, Tshwane (Pretoria), and Ekurhuleni (East Rand), it is still the biggest single party but lost substantial support. The ANC was decimated in most of the country’s urban areas, dropping below 40% in the major cities in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic heartland.
The psychological blow of a sub-50% ANC cannot be overstated. Although this election has no bearing on the national picture, this could be a harbinger of what is to come in the next national election, scheduled for 2024. Overall, the ruling party gained 45.6%, down from 53.9% in 2016. So what happened in the elections? And now the dust has settled, what do the results tell us about the direction of South Africa’s big three parties and the country’s politics more broadly? The ANCįor the first time, support for the African National Congress (ANC) dropped below 50%. Control of these municipalities is significant. While lacking the power of the national or provincial governments, these entities often control large budgets and are the primary point of contact with the government for most South Africans. On 1 November, South Africa held elections in its more than 200 local government bodies. Celebrants waving South African flags on 2021 National Freedom Day.