Commentator Hügo Krüger captured the essence of the Nov. 4 municipal elections that were held across South Africa, one of the founding members of the BRICS: “The ANC fragments, the DA stagnates, ActionSA surges in Gauteng [the industrial and commercial heartland province], and the 2026 local elections point to complex deals ahead.”
Global mega-speculator George Soros, while visiting Cape Town more than a decade ago, said that it was crucial to break up the African National Congress (ANC) hold over the country. This election shows that Soros’s campaign, and that of his confederates in the City of London and Wall Street, has taken an important step forward.
In the last municipal elections, the ANC received about 46% of the vote, but this time around it fell by almost 14 percentage points to 32%. The London Guardian characterized this as a “bruising defeat” that “marks another stage in the decline of the ANC.”
Final results are expected to be announced on Sunday. The ANC—the party that, under Nelson Mandela, put an end to apartheid in South Africa—has lost its national hegemony, though it is still the biggest party but not by very much. Did the ANC’s votes go to the free-market party, the Democratic Alliance (DA)? No, they did not. As commentator Mlungu weLizwe stated on Mr. T’s Podcast, “The DA’s share fell in all five metros since 2016 by between two and nine [percentage] points. Its raw votes are lower than 2016 everywhere. The ANC lost between 15 and 39 points and as much as three-quarters of its eThekwini [Durban metro in KwaZulu-Natal] vote, and the beneficiaries of that fall were new parties, Action SA in Gauteng and MKP in KwaZulu-Natal.” KwaZulu-Natal is former President Zuma’s province.
This is a local government election held every five years in the municipalities (metropolitan, regional, and local). There are eight metros (metropolitan municipalities). The top five metros in population are Johannesburg (5m), Cape Town (5m), eThekwini (Durban, 4m), Tshwane (Pretoria, 4m), and Ekurhuleni (Germiston, 2m).
The rise of ActionSA, led by Herman Mashaba, is noteworthy. It inclines toward free-market policies without the dogmatism of the Democratic Alliance. It remains to be seen what coalitions will be formed from among these parties in the different municipalities.
With 99% of votes counted, the official vote count is: ANC, 9.1 million (30.83%); DA, 7.3 million (24.58%), MKP, 2.9 million (9.69%). Discussions are underway in some metros among the non-DA parties to form coalitions that will reach 50%+ without the DA. The rural vote was heavily ANC (and MKP).