ANC loses full control in nine Gauteng municipalities

With vote counting almost complete after Monday’s local government elections, the ANC in Gauteng is headed for tough coalition talks with opposition parties after losing majorities in nine municipalities in the province.

Gauteng has 11 municipalities consisting of the three metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, and six local and two district municipalities.

Lesedi Local Municipality

The ANC has only managed to retain control of Lesedi Local Municipality in Heidelberg with 50.43%. But this is a far cry from the 2016 local government elections when the governing party got 62.08% of the vote.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) remains the official opposition in Lesedi with reduced electoral support at 20.32%. In 2016, the DA received 23.77%.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) came in third in this year’s polls at 13.53%, compared to the last election when it got 10% of votes.

Big three metros

Johannesburg

After losing control of Gauteng’s three key metros in 2016, the ANC has failed once again to win majorities in the capital city of Tshwane, the country’s economic hub in Johannesburg and in the industrial City of Ekurhuleni.

By 9am on Thursday, 98% of votes were done in Johannesburg with the ANC leading at 34.06% and the DA at 25.49%. The new political entrants ActionSA were at 16.06% followed by the EFF at 10.75%.

Compared to 2016, the ANC received 44.5% of votes, the DA 38.41%, and the EFF was at 11.09%.

Tshwane

The City of Tshwane is also set to be governed through a coalition government again.

At 9am on Thursday, 96% of votes were completed in the capital with the ANC leading at 34.55% and the DA got 32.08%. The EFF got 10.71% while ActionSA received 8.61% in electoral support.

In 2016, the DA received 43.15% of votes, the ANC 41.25% and the EFF got 11.63%.

Ekurhuleni

In Ekurhuleni, 99% of votes were counted by 9am with no party receiving an outright majority to govern the metro. The ANC got 38.32%, the DA 28.54% and the EFF received 13.62%. ActionSA got 6.6% in Ekurhuleni.

Compared to 2016, the ANC received 48.64% of votes, the DA 34.15% and the EFF got 11.23%.

Emfuleni Municipality

The troubled Emfuleni Local Municipality, which has been run by the ANC, became a hung council after the party received 39.71% of votes.

The ANC’s electoral support has been steadily declining in Emfuleni after it received 55.63% in 2016 compared to 2011 when it got 69.79% of votes.

The DA remains the official opposition in Emfuleni at 26.91% followed by the EFF at 15.59%. In 2016, the DA received 24.65% while the EFF got 12.2%.

Midvaal

Midvaal Local Municipality continues to be a DA stronghold and with 100% of votes counted, the party won 62.69%. In 2016, the DA got 59.7% of the votes and in 2011 the party won 56.39%.

This year, the ANC got 21.18%, the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) 6.25% and the EFF got 5.03%.

Mogale City

In Mogale City Local Municipality, the ANC received 40.17% of votes compared to 2016 when it got 48.84% and lost control of the municipality for the first time. The party later regained control of Mogale City through the help of the EFF.

The DA got 32.26% this year compared to 2016 when it received 34.88% of votes. The EFF got 13.89% compared to 11.65% in the last election.

Merafong

For the first time since the dawn of democracy, the ANC has failed to win Merafong Local Municipality with an outright majority.

With vote counting done in the mining town in the West Rand, the ANC received 48.97% of votes compared to 2016 when it got 53.96% and 74.04% in 2011.

This year, the DA remains the official opposition but with reduced electoral support. The party got 16.15% compared to 2016 when it received 21.72% of the votes. The EFF’s support dropped to 15.02%, compared to 2016 when it got 16.18%.

Rand West City

In Rand West City Local Municipality, the ANC got 45.33%, the DA 23% and the EFF 15.05%.

In 2016, the ANC received 52.65%, the DA 26.92% and the EFF 11.97%.

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