South Africa's 2026 local government elections have left 122 of the country's 213 municipal councils hung — with no party holding an outright majority — after counting reached 98 per cent completion, according to the latest Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results.

Source: IEC results via Zambian Observer

With 98 per cent of results completed, the African National Congress (ANC) remained the country's largest party on 30.95 per cent of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 24.55 per cent. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party was third on 9.62 per cent, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) had 6.26 per cent and ActionSA 5.60 per cent.

The full IEC snapshot put the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on 4.73 per cent, the Freedom Front Plus on 3.02 per cent, the South African Communist Party (SACP) on 2.39 per cent and the Patriotic Alliance on 1.95 per cent. Of the 213 councils, 122 are hung, 68 are controlled and 23 are not yet calculated.

Winning the largest share of the national vote has not translated into control of most municipalities. The ANC is leading in 115 councils but controlling only 48, while the DA is leading in 27 and controlling 11. The MK Party is leading in 18 councils and controlling three, and the IFP is also leading in 18 and controlling five.

Saturday picture: 175 councils certified, declaration due Sunday

Financial Mail's Saturday assessment reported that just over 350 voting districts were left to certify on Saturday morning and that the IEC is scheduled to declare the official results on Sunday evening. Of the 175 councils already certified, 109 — 62 per cent — are hung, including Mangaung and Buffalo City, where the ANC was brought significantly below 50 per cent.

Source: Financial Mail

On the proportional representation ballot, Financial Mail put the final tally on course to end at about ANC 31 per cent — down 15 points — DA 25 per cent, MK 10 per cent, EFF 6 per cent and ActionSA 6 per cent, with turnout at 52 per cent. The ANC has lost its status as the biggest party in Gauteng, has slipped to third place in both Tshwane and eThekwini, and remains above 50 per cent only in Limpopo. The DA is the biggest party in all three Gauteng metros and in Nelson Mandela Bay, retained an outright majority in Cape Town, and came within 1,452 votes of the ANC in Mangaung.

ActionSA was counted among the election's clear winners: it has become the fifth-biggest party nationally, is within 50,000 votes of the EFF on the proportional ballot, and recorded about 18 per cent in Gauteng after winning more than 50 wards in the province's townships. The EFF, by contrast, declined by about five points nationally and went backwards in all nine provinces.