LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: ActionSA surges in Gauteng metros, taking ANC wards — see where

ActionSA has made significant inroads into traditionally ANC-supporting townships across Gauteng, on track to be the leading party in 54 wards across Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni in the 2026 local government elections.

The party’s gains span communities in Soweto, Tembisa, Atteridgeville, Mabopane, Ivory Park and Hammanskraal, among others, pointing to an expanded electoral footprint in areas where the ANC has historically enjoyed strong support.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont told Daily Maverick that the party was going to lead in 27 wards in Tshwane, 16 in Ekurhuleni and 11 in Johannesburg.

Official results data at 1pm on Friday, 6 November, however, reflected a different tally for ActionSA, recording it leading 26 wards in Tshwane, 11 in Ekurhuleni and 14 in Johannesburg – 51 wards in total. Results were still being captured at the time.

In Tshwane, its wins include seven expected wards in Atteridgeville. It also led in wards in Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane and Hammanskraal. See the party’s gains since the 2021 elections in the metro, in the map below.

In Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, ActionSA was on track to win all nine wards, according to Beaumont. Tembisa is at the top of the map below. ActionSA also performed strongly around Daveyton, on the right, and in certain areas around Katlehong, bottom left.

ActionSA won 16% in Johannesburg in 2021, but didn’t win a ward. In the 2026 elections, it was on track to secure about eight wards in Soweto, according to Beaumont. Soweto is on the lower left of the map below. The party was also performing strongly around Ivory Park, top right, as well as in Ward 124, just south of the CBD, which covers Selby, Booysens and Springfield.

The results mark a significant change from the 2021 local government elections, when ActionSA did not win a single ward in Gauteng.

The ANC’s ward representation, meanwhile, has declined substantially, according to the provisional results reflected in the official data. In Johannesburg, its ward tally had dropped from 87 in 2021 to 44 in the latest snapshot. In Ekurhuleni, it had fallen from 78 to 26, while in Tshwane it had declined from 70 to 29.

Counting was still under way at the time of writing, when the figures were captured, but the results point to a changing political landscape across Gauteng’s three metropolitan municipalities, with ActionSA establishing a presence in communities that were previously dominated by the ANC.

ActionSA said the gains represented an expansion of its electoral base beyond its initial breakthrough in the 2021 elections, where it seeks to position itself as an alternative in the province’s townships. DM