Johannesburg, a city of 4.8 million people, has faced water shortages for more than a week and has had 10 mayors in as many years. The DA looked set to retain its majority in Cape Town, although probably with less than the 58 percent it won in 2021, as unaffordable housing turned more voters against the party.
The neighbouring municipality of Ekurhuleni has had three mayors since 2021. To the north, in Tshwane, which contains the capital Pretoria, the mayoralty has rotated between parties four times since 2020.
South Africa’s electoral commission will have a week to announce the final results of Wednesday’s vote, which chooses councillors and parties. Mayors are not directly elected.
Vote fragmentation meant the ANC could still end up leading many city coalition governments while losing control of others. Local ANC leaders were reportedly not in favour of a DA tie-up.
Parties will then have two weeks from the announcement to form councils and elect mayors.
Surveys showed the ANC winning less than a third of the vote, down from 45.6 percent at the last local elections in 2021 and 40.2 percent in the 2024 national vote.
Unstable coalitions are already a feature of many of the country’s 257 municipalities. Analysts point to their high turnover as a major reason for poor service delivery.