2016 South African municipal elections explained

Election Name:	2016 South African municipal elections
Country:	South Africa
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2011 South African municipal elections
Previous Year:	2011
Election Date:	3 August 2016
Next Election:	2021 South African municipal elections
Next Year:	2021
1Blank:	Popular vote
2Blank:	Swing
3Blank:	Councillors
4Blank:	Councillors ±
5Blank:	Municipalities
6Blank:	Municipalities ±
Seats For Election:	All councillors for all 8 metropolitan municipalities All councillors for all 226 local municipalities 40% of councillors for all 44 district municipalities
Leader1:	Jacob Zuma
Party1:	African National Congress
1Data1:	53.91%
2Data1:	8.04%
3Data1:	5,163
4Data1:	468
5Data1:	167
6Data1:	15
Leader2:	Mmusi Maimane
1Data2:	27.39%
2Data2:	2.96%
3Data2:	1,782
4Data2:	227
5Data2:	33
6Data2:	12
Party3:	Economic Freedom Fighters
1Data3:	8.19%
2Data3:	New
3Data3:	761
4Data3:	761
5Data3:	0
Party4:	Inkatha Freedom Party
1Data4:	4.25%
2Data4:	0.68%
3Data4:	432
4Data4:	80
5Data4:	11
6Data4:	9

The 2016 South African municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016,^[1] to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces.^[2] It was the fifth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994; municipal elections are held every five years.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) was the largest party overall, earning 53.9% of the total vote. It was followed by the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) with 26.9% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 8.2%. Popular support for the ANC fell to its lowest level since 1994, a shift which was most pronounced in the country's urban centres.^[3] Despite marginal gains in some areas, the ANC lost control of three metropolitan municipalities - namely Nelson Mandela Bay, City of Tshwane and City of Johannesburg - to opposition parties as a result of the election. The DA achieved its best local electoral performance so far, while the EFF, contesting its first local government election, improved on its performance in the 2014 general election. The local polls were widely seen a turning point in the political landscape of South Africa, as the dominance of the ANC was greatly diminished while coalition and minority governments became more widespread.^[4] ^[5]

Electoral system

Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities, each of which consists of several local municipalities. After the 2016 election there were eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.^[6]

The councils of metropolitan and local municipalities are elected by a system of mixed-member proportional representation, in which half of the seats in each municipality are elected on the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards and the other half of the seats are allocated according to the proportional representation (PR) system. The latter takes into account the number of ward seats won by a party, and ensures that the final number of seats held by that party is proportional to their percentage of the total vote.^[7] District municipality councils are partly elected by proportional representation and partly appointed by the councils of the constituent local municipalities.^[8] Voters in both metropolitan and local municipalities elect a single ward candidate as well as a proportional representative in their municipal council. Residents of municipalities that form part of district councils (that is, excluding metropolitan municipalities) also cast a third vote to elect a proportional representative for their district council in addition to the two votes they cast for their local council.^[9]

Political parties

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been the majority party in most municipalities across South Africa, with the exception of those in the Western Cape, since 1994. Its overall share of the vote decreased slightly from 65.7% in 2006 to 62.93% in 2011 amid growing discontent regarding the state of the country's economy and perceived corruption within the organisation since the end of apartheid.^[10] The party was led by Jacob Zuma, who was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa at the 57th National Conference in December 2017.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) increased its total share of the vote from 16.3% in 2006 to 24.1% in 2011, while assuming control of most Western Cape councils. The party contested an election for the first time under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane, who succeeded Helen Zille as leader in May 2015.^[11]

The newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, contested its first municipal election since its formation in 2013. Smaller parties included the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which held several municipalities in its stronghold KwaZulu-Natal, and the Congress of the People (COPE), which was expected to decrease its share of the vote after the decline in support following the 2014 general election.^[12] The National Freedom Party (NFP), a breakaway from the IFP led by former IFP chairperson Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, was barred from participating in the election after it failed to pay its registration fee to the Independent Electoral Commission.^[13] The party had support in areas where the IFP had been strong, and prior to the election governed a number of municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal in coalition with the African National Congress. The NFP was, however, allowed to contest the election in one municipality, Nquthu, where its local branch had paid the registration fee on time.^[14] The party obtained just two seats in this council, down from five seats in 2011.

Campaigning

The country's ruling party, the ANC, was reported to have spent R1 billion (US$71 million) in campaigning in the election.^[15] ^[16] The Democratic Alliance (DA) was reported to have spent R350 million and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) spent between R15 million and R20 million. The United Democratic Movement (UDM) reportedly spent under R4 million contesting the election.

The top three issues of the election were the constantly high unemployment rate, corruption and poor service delivery by government.^[17] A major campaign issue during the election was corruption within the ANC, in particular President Jacob Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family^[18] and funding for the construction of his homestead at Nkandla.^[19]

The ANC was accused by commentators and the DA^[20] of trying to make racism a key electoral issue by racialising the election.^[21]

The run-up to the election was marked by a number of murders of ANC candidates allegedly by rivals within the ANC in an effort to secure lucrative positions in local government.^[22] Inter ANC rivalries^[23] also sparked protests from 20 to 22 June 2016 in the City of Tshwane over the ANC's selection of Thoko Didiza as mayoral candidate for the city^[24] that left 5 people dead.^[25]

In January 2017 the ANC was taken to court by a South African public relations expert (Sihle Bolani) for work done during the elections, Bolani stated that the ANC used her to launch and run a covert R50 million fake news and disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting opposition parties during the election.^[26] ^[27] ^[28]

In his book How to Steal a City (2017), author Crispian Olver states that corruption and state capture within the ANC governed Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality led to the party losing the city to the DA in the 2016 elections.^[29]

Municipal demarcation changes

South Africa's Municipal Demarcation Board announced changed ward demarcations and municipal boundaries, following former Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan suggesting the redrawing of boundaries to make municipalities more sustainable and financially viable. There are 34 cases that affect 90 municipalities.^[30] The DA objected, and MP James Selfe has announced that the DA would take the Board to court over what it says is clear party-motivated and irrational boundary determinations.^[31]

Target municipalities

The two major political parties announced that they were specifically targeting certain municipalities for the 2016 election. The African National Congress (ANC) claimed that, in addition to maintaining control of certain municipalities, it would also take control of the City of Cape Town.^[32] The Democratic Alliance announced a "big five" plan to target specific municipalities: three metropolitan; Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Tlokwe Local Municipality for takeover, and an increased majority in Cape Town.^[33]

Nelson Mandela Bay

Danny Jordaan was appointed Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay in 2015 and also ran for the ANC in the 2016 election.^[34] On April 13, 2015, the Democratic Alliance selected former DA Parliamentary Leader Athol Trollip as its mayoral candidate.^[35]

Johannesburg

Incumbent Mayor Parks Tau represented the African National Congress in the election as its mayoral candidate,^[36] despite some ANC members having suggested Geoff Makhubo as a potential alternative.^[37] The Democratic Alliance selected businessman Herman Mashaba over Wits professor and DA councillor Rabelani Dagada as its mayoral candidate on January 16, 2016.^[38] The EFF did not announce a mayoral candidate, but deployed Floyd Shivambu to build EFF election machinery in Johannesburg for the upcoming election.^[39]

Tshwane

See also: 2016 Tshwane riots. The incumbent mayor of Tshwane was Kgosientso Ramokgopa of the African National Congress. On 20 June 2016 riots broke out in Tshwane over the ANC's selection of Thoko Didiza as mayoral candidate for Tshwane.^[40] On 5 September 2015 the Democratic Alliance selected MPL Solly Msimanga over 2011 mayoral candidate Brandon Topham and councillor Bronwyn Engelbrecht.^[41]

Cape Town

Incumbent DA Mayor Patricia de Lille was renominated in January 2016 as her party's mayoral candidate.^[42]

Election results

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) remained the largest party, obtaining 53.91% of the votes nationally, a fall from the 62.93% achieved in 2011. The Democratic Alliance (DA) remained the second largest at 26.90%, up from 24.1% in 2011. The Economic Freedom Fighters obtained 8.19% in their first municipal election.

The decline in ANC support was most significant in urban areas, with the ANC losing its outright majority in 4 of the country's 8 metropolitan municipalities for the first time since 1994. The ANC retained Buffalo City, Mangaung and eThekwini, but with decreased majorities in Buffalo City and eThekwini. In the City of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, the ANC lost its majority but retained a plurality.The DA increased its majority in the City of Cape Town, and achieved pluralities in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, its first in metropolitan municipalities outside of the Western Cape. Of the 4 hung metropolitan municipalities, the ANC retained Ekurhuleni through a coalition, while the DA gained control of Nelson Mandela Bay through a coalition, and formed minority governments in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

National results by party

|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"!rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party!colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Ward!colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|PR!colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Ward + PR!colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|DC!colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Total|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"!Votes!%!Votes!%!Votes!%!Votes!%!Votes!%|-| ||7,978,983||53.34%||8,124,223||54.49%||16,103,206||53.91%||5,347,126||61.68%||21,450,332||55.65%|-| ||4,004,865||26.77%||4,028,765||27.02%||8,033,630||26.90%||1,429,868||16.52%||9,463,498||24.57%|-| ||1,217,805||8.14%||1,229,548||8.25%||2,447,353||8.19%||755,326||8.73%||3,202,679||8.31%|-| ||632,102||4.23%||636,722||4.27%||1,268,824||4.25%||554,558||6.41%||1,823,382||4.73%|-| ||88,501||0.59%||145,759||0.98%||234,260||0.78%||99,395||1.15%||333,655||0.87%|-| ||115,993||0.78%||113,288||0.76%||229,281||0.77%||78,268||0.90%||307,549||0.80%|-| ||76,351||0.51%||91,271||0.61%||167,622||0.56%||70,378||0.81%||238,000||0.62%|-| ||62,582||0.42%||67,779||0.45%||130,361||0.44%||55,824||0.65%||186,185||0.48%|-| ||61,966||0.41%||62,463||0.42%||124,429||0.42%||26,536||0.31%||150,965||0.39%|-| ||28,638||0.19%||28,849||0.19%||57,487||0.19%||29,180||0.34%||86,667||0.23%|-| ||24,819||0.17%||40,758||0.27%||65,577||0.22%||19,002||0.22%||84,579||0.22%|-| ||28,171||0.19%||29,807||0.20%||57,978||0.19%||16,629||0.19%||74,607||0.19%|-| ||24,592||0.16%||24,889||0.17%||49,481||0.17%||23,987||0.28%||73,468||0.19%|-| ||15,240||0.10%||15,239||0.10%||30,479||0.10%||13,762||0.16%||44,241||0.11%|-| ||19,030||0.13%||17,223||0.12%||36,243||0.12%||648||0.01%||36,891||0.10%|-| ||7,975||0.05%||9,695||0.07%||17,670||0.06%||10,571||0.12%||28,241||0.07%|-| ||9,801||0.07%||10,126||0.07%||19,927||0.07%||8,122||0.09%||28,049||0.07%|-| |||341,030||2.28%||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|N/A||341,030||1.14%||colspan="2" style="text-align:center"|N/A||341,030||0.89%|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"|colspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Total^[43] ||colspan="2"| 14,959,033 ||colspan="2"| 14,910,817 ||colspan="2"| 29,869,850 ||colspan="2"| 8,654,209 ||colspan="2"|38,524,059|}

PR = Proportional Representation
DC = District Council

Results by Municipal Type

The statistics in this section are all sourced from the Independent Electoral Commission's official website unless specified otherwise.

Metropolitan Municipalities

	Type of Control	Municipalities	Change
African National Congress	ANC Majority	3	4
	ANC Coalition	1	1
	Total	4	3
Democratic Alliance	DA Majority	1	0
	DA Coalition	1	1
	DA Minority	2	2
	Total	4	3

District Municipalities

Local Municipalities

	Type of Control	Municipalities	Change
African National Congress	ANC Majority	158	5 1/6
	ANC Coalition	3	18 1/2
	ANC Minority	2	1
	Total	163	13 2/3
Democratic Alliance	DA Majority	17	5 2/3
	DA Coalition	8	2
	DA Minority	4	4
	Total	29	7 2/3
Inkatha Freedom Party	IFP Majority	6	4
	IFP Minority	5	5
	Total	11	9
COPE	COPE Coalition	0	1
COPE	Total	0	1
ICOSA	ICOSA Coalition	0	1
ICOSA	Total	0	1
National Freedom Party	NFP Majority	0	1
	NFP Coalition	0	1
	Total	0	2

Seats won by province

Seat allocations in local and metropolitan councils, sorted by province.

Eastern Cape

In the following table,

green rows indicate those won by the ANC with a majority, blue rows indicate municipalities won by the DA with a majority, and light blue rows indicate a DA coalition or minority, light green cells indicate municipalities won by the ANC with Minorities or Coalitions.

Metropolitan Municipalities
Municipality		ANC	DA	EFF	Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Buffalo City		60	24	8	8	100	ANC majority	ANC majority
Nelson Mandela Bay		50	57	6	7	120	ANC majority	DA-UDM-Cope-ACDP Coalition
Two Tier Municipalities
District Municipality	Local Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Sarah Baartman							ANC majority	ANC majority
		14	13	0	0	27	New municipality	ANC majority
		7	4	0	0	11	ANC majority	ANC majority
		17	8	2	0	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
		13	6	1	0	20	ANC majority	ANC majority
		11	4	1	0	16	ANC majority	ANC majority
		12	17	0	0	29	ANC majority	DA majority
		6	5	0	0	11	ANC majority	ANC majority
Amathole							ANC majority	ANC majority
		47	2	2	12	63	ANC majority	ANC majority
		48	3	3	8	62	ANC majority	ANC majority
		9	2	1	1	13	ANC majority	ANC majority
		24	3	3	0	30	ANC majority	ANC majority
		20	2	1	0	23	ANC majority	ANC majority
		38	5	3	0	46	ANC majority	ANC majority
Chris Hani							ANC majority	ANC majority
		11	7	0	0	18	ANC majority	ANC majority
		35	1	3	3	42	ANC majority	ANC majority
		28	4	1	1	34	ANC majority	ANC majority
		33	1	2	3	39	ANC majority	ANC majority
		14	1	1	1	17	ANC majority	ANC majority
		50	9	6	3	68	ANC majority	ANC majority
Joe Gqabi							ANC majority	ANC majority
		28	2	1	3	34	ANC majority	ANC majority
		23	2	1	8	34	ANC majority	ANC majority
		15	5	1	1	22	ANC majority	ANC majority
OR Tambo							ANC majority	ANC majority
		53	2	4	4	63	ANC majority	ANC majority
		31	2	1	5	39	ANC majority	ANC majority
		54	3	3	3	63	ANC majority	ANC majority
		40	2	2	7	51	ANC majority	ANC majority
		46	3	3	20	72	ANC majority	ANC majority
Alfred Nzo							ANC majority	ANC majority
		38	5	3	5	51	ANC majority	ANC majority
		41	4	3	5	53	ANC majority	ANC majority
		50	2	4	6	62	ANC majority	ANC majority
		29	2	2	1	34	ANC majority	ANC majority

Free State

In the following table,

green cells indicate those municipalities won by the ANC with Majorities. Light blue cells indicate those won by the DA with a minority or coalition, Light green cells indicate those won by the ANC with a minority or coalition.

Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Metropolitan Municipalities
	58	27	9	6	100	ANC majority	ANC majority
District Municipalities
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
Local Municipalities
	25	8	3	3	39	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	3	1	0	15	ANC majority	ANC majority
	8	2	1		11	ANC majority	ANC majority
	13	2	1	1	17	ANC majority	ANC majority
	47	5	9	8	69	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	3	2	1	17	ANC majority	ANC majority
	12	4	2	1	19	ANC majority	ANC majority
	46	16	6	4	72	ANC majority	ANC majority
	19	12	8	3	42	ANC majority	ANC-SACP coalition
	7	2	2	0	11	ANC majority	ANC majority
	27	11	4	3	45	ANC majority	ANC majority
	15	3	5	1	24	ANC majority	ANC majority
	24	8	3	1	36	ANC majority	ANC majority
	13	3	1	1	18	ANC majority	ANC majority
	12	2	1		15	ANC majority	ANC majority
	21	5	3	4	33	ANC majority	ANC majority
	5	1	1	1	8	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	3	1	0	15	ANC majority	ANC majority

Gauteng

In the following table,

green cells indicate those municipalities won by the ANC with Majorities, light green cells indicate municipalities won by the ANC with Minorities or Coalitions. blue cells indicate municipalities won by the DA with a majority, light blue cells indicate those won by the DA with a minority or coalition.

Metropolitan Municipalities
Municipality		ANC	DA	EFF	Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
City of Johannesburg		121	104	30	15	270	ANC majority	DA-IFP-VF+ minority
Ekurhuleni		109	77	25	13	224	ANC majority	ANC-AIC-PAC-PA coalition
City of Tshwane		89	93	25	7	214	ANC majority	DA-VF+-ACDP minority
Two Tier Municipalities
District Municipality	Local Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Sedibeng							ANC majority	ANC majority
		50	22	11	7	90	ANC majority	ANC majority
		16	6	3	1	26	ANC majority	ANC majority
		9	17	2	1	29	DA majority	DA majority
West Rand		23	12	6	3	44^[44]	ANC majority	ANC majority
		30	12	9	4	55	ANC majority	ANC majority
		38	27	9	3	77	ANC majority	ANC minority^[45]
		37	19	8	5	69	ANC majority	ANC majority

KwaZulu-Natal

In the following table,

green rows indicate those won by the ANC with a majority, light green rows indicate those won by the ANC with a minority or coalition, red rows indicate those won by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with a majority, and pink rows indicate lead by an IFP minority. Orange cells indicate those one by National Freedom Party (NFP), and light orange indicate those led by NFP coalition.

Metropolitan Municipalities
Municipality					Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
eThekwini		126	61	10	22	219	ANC majority	ANC majority
Two Tier Municipalities
District Municipality	Local Municipality	ANC	DA	IFP	Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Amajuba							ANC majority	ANC majority
		41	6	11	9	67	ANC majority	ANC majority
		6	1	3	1	11	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
		14	1	8	2	25	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
Harry Gwala							ANC majority	ANC majority
		38	1	1	3	43	ANC majority	ANC majority
		23	3	2	1	29	ANC majority	ANC majority
		20	1	2	4	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
		13	3	0	3	19	ANC majority	ANC majority
iLembe								ANC majority
		36	11	4	6	57	ANC majority	ANC majority
		25	1	7	2	35	ANC majority	ANC majority
		13	0	9	0	22	ANC majority	ANC majority
		27	1	8	1	37	ANC majority	ANC majority
Ugu		23	5	6	1	35		ANC majority^[46]
		47	14	5	5	71	ANC majority	ANC majority
		30	1	6	2	39	ANC majority	ANC majority
		23	7	3	4	37	ANC majority	ANC majority
		14	1	4	1	20	ANC majority	ANC majority
uMgungundlovu								ANC majority
		13	10	0	0	23	ANC majority	ANC majority
		52	15	5	6	78	ANC majority	ANC majority
		9	1	3	1	14	ANC majority	ANC majority
		20	2	4	1	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
		11	2	0	1	14	ANC majority	ANC majority
		6	0	1	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
		7	1	1	0	9	ANC majority	ANC majority
uMkhanyakude								ANC majority
		19	1	18	2	40	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority^[47]
		18	2	18	2	40	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority
		22	1	10	2	35	ANC majority	ANC majority
		11	1	13	0	25	New municipality	IFP majority
uMzinyathi							ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority
		6	2	4	1	13	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority ^[48]
		14	1	15	3	33	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority
		12	0	24	0	36	IFP majority	IFP majority
		15	1	11	0	27	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
uThukela								ANC Majority
		46	4	16	6	72	New municipality	ANC majority
		15	2	7	5	29	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
		23	2	18	3	46	New municipality	ANC-Ind coalition^[49]
Zululand							NFP-ANC coalition	IFP minority
		8	5	3	0	16	NFP majority	ANC minority
		15	2	10	2	29	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
	AbaQulusi	21	3	19	1	44	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP minority
	Nongoma	13	5	22	2	42	NFP-ANC coalition	IFP majority
	Ulundi	11	0	35	1	47	IFP majority	IFP majority
uThungulu								ANC majority
		43	8	13	3	67	ANC majority	ANC majority
		17	0	15	1	33	ANC majority	ANC majority
		30	1	22	1	54	ANC-NFP coalition	ANC majority
		10	0	14	1	25	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP majority
		12	0	15	0	27	ANC-NFP coalition	IFP majority

Limpopo

In the following table,

green cells indicate those municipalities won by the ANC with Majorities. Light blue cells indicate those won by the DA with a minority or coalition.

Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
District Municipalities
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
	19	7	8	1	35	ANC majority	ANC majority
Local Municipalities
	33	2	8	1	44	ANC majority	ANC majority
	40	3	15	2	60	ANC majority	ANC majority
	52	10	26	2	90	ANC majority	ANC majority
	26	4	6	1	37	ANC majority	ANC majority
	51	2	5	4	62	ANC majority	ANC majority
	46	2	9	3	60	ANC majority	ANC majority
	52	7	8	2	69	ANC majority	ANC majority
	15	3	5	4	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
	41	5	10	4	61	ANC majority	ANC majority
	20	3	7	2	32	ANC majority	ANC majority
	54	4	15	4	77	ANC majority	ANC majority
	43	2	14	3	62	ANC majority	ANC majority
	56	9	7	3	75	ANC majority	ANC majority
	18	3	3	0	24	ANC majority	ANC majority
	64	4	8	5	81	ANC majority	ANC majority
	9	5	2	1	17	ANC majority	ANC majority
	17	4	5	0	26	ANC majority	ANC majority
	23	2	7	0	32	ANC majority	ANC majority
	41	6	13	4	64	ANC majority	ANC majority
	13	7	6	2	28	ANC majority	DA minority ^[50]
	10	5	5	3	23	ANC majority	DA minority

Mpumalanga

The ANC's control of the municipalities in this province was not significantly challenged with the party winning over 55% support in every municipality. The DA failed to make any progress in this historically strongly ANC region, with the party's vote share shrinking by a few percentage points overall against a national backdrop of gains for the party. Due in large part to the lack of substantial DA support across the province, the EFF was able to become the main opposition to the ANC in four of the seventeen municipalities.

In the following table,

green rows indicate those won by the ANC.

Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
District Municipalities
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
Local Municipalities
	41	2	4	2	49	ANC majority	ANC majority
	29	5	3	1	38	ANC majority	ANC majority
	29	3	2	4	38	ANC majority	ANC majority
	17	2	1	1	21	ANC majority	ANC majority
	20	5	2	3	30	ANC majority	ANC majority
	9	2	1	0	12	ANC majority	ANC majority
	36	15	9	3	63	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	4	2	0	17	ANC majority	ANC majority
	41	17	8	2	68	ANC majority	ANC majority
	32	17	7	2	58	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	3	1	0	15	ANC majority	ANC majority
	49	3	9	3	64	ANC majority	ANC majority
	43	4	10	5	62	ANC majority	ANC majority
	17	7	2	1	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
	54	4	7	0	65	ANC majority	ANC majority
	53	3	4	16	76	ANC majority	ANC majority
	69	13	6	2	90	ANC majority	ANC majority

North West

In the following table,

green rows indicate those won by the ANC, and light green rows indicate those with an ANC minority or coalition. The municipal boundaries are determined by the Organised Local Government Act, 1997 (Act 52 of 1997) ^[51]

Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
District Municipalities ^[52]
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
Local Municipalities
	25	6	5	3	40	ANC majority	ANC majority
	22	2	2	3	29	ANC majority	ANC majority
	34	2	6	6	48	ANC majority	ANC majority
	8	3	3	1	15	ANC majority	ANC majority
	10	3	1	2	16	ANC majority	ANC majority
	45	16	14	6	81	ANC majority	ANC majority
	43	7	12	7	69	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	1	2	4	18	ANC majority	ANC majority
	14	3	2	3	22	ANC majority	ANC majority
	46	17	7	7	77	ANC majority	ANC majority
	38	4	8	2	52	ANC majority	ANC majority
	45	4	15	4	68	ANC majority	ANC majority
	13	5	2	0	20	ANC majority	ANC majority
	23	2	6	7	38	ANC majority	ANC majority
	20	2	3	3	28	ANC majority	ANC majority
	43	14	24	8	89	ANC majority	ANC-AIC-BCM coalition
	20	5	2	1	29	ANC majority	ANC majority
	34	22	5	6	67	ANC majority	ANC majority

Northern Cape

In the following table,

green rows indicate those won by the ANC majority, and light green cells indicate municipalities led by an ANC coalition or minority. Light blue rows indicate municipalities won led by a DA coalition or minority. Yellow cells indicate municipalities led by a COPE coalition or minority.

Municipality			EFF	Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
District Municipalities
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
						ANC majority	ANC majority
Local Municipalities
	4	3	0	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	8	7	0	2	17	DA-COPE coalition	ANC-KSR coalition^[53]
	4	2	1	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	5	4	0	0	9	DA-COPE coalition	ANC majority
	4	2	0	1	7	COPE-DA coalition	ANC majority
	4	2	0	1	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	3	2	0	2	7	ANC minority^[54]	ANC minority^[55]
	7	3	1	0	11	ANC majority	ANC majority
	9	5	1	0	15	ANC-Ind coalition	ANC majority
	4	2	1	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	4	3	0	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	4	2	1	0	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	6	3	0	0	9	ANC majority	ANC majority
	8	3	2	0	13	ANC majority	ANC majority
	11	5	1	2	19	ANC majority	ANC majority
	4	1	0	2	7	ANC majority	ANC majority
	7	2	1	3	13	ANC majority	ANC majority
	3	2	0	2	7	ANC majority	KGF-DA coalition^[56] ^[57]
	18	10	1	2	31	New municipality	ANC majority
	38	19	5	3	65	ANC majority	ANC majority
	9	2	2	0	13	ANC majority	ANC majority
	5	2	2	0	9	ANC majority	ANC majority
	12	3	3	1	19	ANC majority	ANC majority
	21	1	6	1	29	ANC majority	ANC majority
	18	3	5	1	27	ANC majority	ANC majority
	7	5	1	0	13	ANC majority	ANC majority

Western Cape

In the following table,

Municipality				Others	Total	Prior Control	New Control
Metropolitan Municipalities
City of Cape Town	57	154	7	13	231	DA majority	DA majority
District Municipalities
West Coast	9	16	0	0	25	DA majority	DA majority
Cape Winelands	11	27	2	1	41	DA majority	DA majority
Overberg	7	14	0	0	21	DA majority	DA majority
Garden Route	12	21	0	2	35	DA-led coalition	DA majority
Central Karoo	4	6	0	3	13	ANC-KGP coalition	DA-KGP coalition
Local Municipalities
	6	6	0	1	13	ANC majority	DA-KDF coalition^[58]
	4	9	0	0	13	DA majority	DA majority
	12	22	1	6	41	DA majority	DA majority
	6	6	0	1	13	DA majority	DA-AUF coalition^[59]
	3	6	0	2	11	ANC-Ind coalition	DA majority
	4	6	0	1	11	ANC majority	DA majority
	15	43	2	5	65	DA majority	DA majority
	16	29	1	7	53	DA majority	DA majority
	8	8	0	1	17	DA-COPE coalition	DA-FF+ coalition
	2	2	0	3	7	ICOSA-ANC coalition	ANC-DA coalition^[60] (in doubt)^[61]
	7	10	0	4	21	DA majority	DA-ACDP coalition^[62]
	3	3	0	1	7	DA-COPE coalition	DA-KOP coalition^[63] ^[64]
	6	12	1	4	23	DA-COPE coalition	DA majority
	5	8	1	1	15	ANC-led coalition	DA majority
	7	17	0	3	27	DA majority	DA majority
	7	14	1	3	25	Under Administration	DA majority
	8	16	1	0	25	DA majority	DA majority
	2	3	0	2	7	KGP-ANC coalition	DA-KGP coalition
	8	17	1	1	27	DA majority	DA majority
	8	30	2	3	43	DA majority	DA majority
	6	16	1	0	23	DA majority	DA majority
	5	6	0	0	11	DA-ACDP coalition	DA majority
	10	14	1	2	27	DA majority	DA majority
	8	11	1	3	23	DA-COPE-Ind-DCP coalition	DA-COPE coalition

Notes and References

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