IEC numbers show ANC battling to win outright majority in major metros

The ANC looks set to lose outright control in almost all metro municipalities in the country after Monday’s local government elections.

The Electoral Commission (IEC) is yet to finalise results, but trends show the ANC may only be guaranteed an outright majority in two metros — Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape and Mangaung in Free State.

These trends seem to confirm an earlier prediction by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which placed the ANC below 50% in most metros except Buffalo City and Mangaung.

If the current trend continues it would also mean the ANC performed worse than it did in the 2016 local government elections when it managed to win eThekwini outright but had to cobble together a coalition to govern Ekurhuleni.

The party later put together a coalition government in Johannesburg after then DA mayor  Herman Mashaba resigned, leading to the collapse of the coalition government supported by the EFF.

Before noon on Wednesday, with results still to be finalised by the IEC, the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay was leading with 41.01% of votes, but had only been allocated four council seats.

The DA, which runs the municipality via a coalition, managed 38.86% of votes but had been allocated six seats.

The EFF had 6.8% of the votes.

In contrast, the ANC had a strong showing in Buffalo City, where the party was leading the pack with 60.71% of votes and 11 seats, a strong indication it would retain the municipality with an outright majority.

The DA in the metro had 18.27% of the vote with two seats while the EFF had 11.85% of votes with no seat allocation.

In the City of Cape Town the DA was leading with 62.27% with 20 seat allocations while the ANC was at 13.26% and four seats. Patricia De Lille’s GOOD Party was at number three with 4.4%.

The DA has been running the municipality since 2006 when it formed a coalition, but in the last term it ran the city with a two-thirds majority.

In Mangaung, the ANC leads the pack with 45.05%  while the DA is at 31.11% and the EFF at 9.43%.

In Gauteng in all three metros, the party looks set for a repeat of its 2016 performance when it failed to secure a single metro. 

In Tshwane, the DA leads the pack with 34.05% with the ANC at 32.77% and the EFF at 10.84%.

The ANC leads the pack in Ekurhuleni with 37.26% followed by the DA at 29.9% while the EFF is at 13.68%.

In the hotly contested City of Johannesburg, the ANC is at 31.65%, with the DA at 29.11% and Mashaba’s ActionSA at 10.12%.

In eThekwini, the ANC leads with 42.52% followed by the DA at 27.05% and the EFF at 10.12%.

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