With nearly half of the vote counted, the ANC has less than 50% of the national total, with 46.6% of the vote.

The DA is second with 22.5% while the EFF is just shy of 10%, with 9.9%.

The number of hung councils will likely be significantly higher than in 2016, with the majority of councils in the Western Cape likely to see no party win a majority. Other provinces will also see large number of councils with no single party reaching 50%.

Although the DA had a bad day in rural Western Cape, where it lost its outright majority in a number of municipalities, it won a council in KwaZulu-Natal for the first time. The party secured 13 of the 25 seats in Umgeni (Howick and Nottingham Road) with the ANC winning ten of the available seats. The EFF secured the other two. The party also increased its majority in Midvaal, the only municipality it governs outright in Gauteng.

In Gauteng the DA – at the time of writing – is leading in Tshwane, with the ANC being the single biggest party in the other two metros, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. However, no party is likely to secure a majority. ActionSA has turned in a good performance in Gauteng, winning nearly 20% of the vote in Johannesburg and above 5% in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

In the rest of the country the ANC will remain the single biggest party in most municipalities, although it has seen support drop across South Africa. Coalitions will be necessary to govern in a significant number of South Africa’s cities and towns.

At the time of writing the state of play in the metros is:

  • Cape Town: DA, 60.9%, ANC 14.3%, GOOD 4.3% (32% of voting districts reporting);
  • Nelson Mandela Bay: ANC 44.0%, DA 37.6%, EFF 7.3% (25% of voting districts reporting);
  • Buffalo City: ANC 69.3%, EFF 12/4%, DA 11.4% (46% of voting districts reporting);
  • eThekwini: ANC 47.8%, DA 21.9%, EFF 10.7%, IFP 8.2% (15% of voting districts reporting);
  • Mangaung: ANC 44.9%, DA 31.3%, EFF 9.4%, FF+ 5.5% (33% of voting districts reporting);
  • Ekurhuleni: ANC 38.2%, DA 29.5%, EFF 13.7%, ActionSA 6.1% (53% of voting districts reporting);
  • Tshwane: DA 38.1%, ANC 29.8%, EFF 9.6%, FF+ 9.0%, ActionSA 7.2% (20% of voting districts reporting);
  • Johannesburg: ANC: 36.1%, DA 23.5%, ActionSA 17.4%, EFF 12.2% (31% of voting districts reporting).

In Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal, the municipality where former President Jacob Zuma has his controversial homestead, the ANC won 34% of the vote, compared to the IFP’s 57%.

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