Elections 2026 | South Africa votes in record numbers

Well over half of South Africans registered to vote in the 2026 Local Government Elections – seen as a test for the ruling African National Congress – cast their ballots, the electoral body said on Thursday.

With a quarter of ballots counted from Wednesday’s vote, control of South Africa’s major cities remained up for grabs in elections for 257 councils, a test of the country’s political mood ahead of a 2029 national vote.

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Up from Covid-19 hit 2021 elections

The electoral body said about 15.9 million of the 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, translating into an estimated turnout of 54.5 percent.

The turnout is up from 46 percent in the Covid-19 pandemic-hit local elections in 2021.

Voting was largely orderly across the country, although some confrontations between supporters of rival political parties were reported.

While the preliminary results remain fragmentary, projections from the early tally put the African National Congress (ANC) on about 31.5 percent, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, a state-funded research body.

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MK Party below projections

Its rival, the Democratic Alliance, now the ANC’s coalition partner in South Africa’s national unity government, was projected at around 25.5 percent.

Former president Jacob Zuma’s breakaway MK Party was forecast to place third on roughly nine percent, below levels suggested in opinion polls.

The ANC, which has governed nationally since the advent of democracy in 1994, has seen its electoral support steadily eroded. In a 2024 general election, it fell below the 50 percent threshold for the first time, securing just 40 percent of the vote.