Election results from IEC show,so far ANC failed to secure an outright win in any of the province’s councils. Gauteng has three metros, and six local and two district municipalities.
The party was unable to secure outright majorities in the three metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. By Wednesday afternoon, all three councils were hung.
However, IEC results show that the party may fail to win outright all nine municipalities when the final results are publicised. The losses, however, do not include district municipalities, West Rand and Sedibeng, which will only be constituted later.
As at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, the IEC had completed results in Gauteng for five municipalities. Four of them are hung, while one, Midvaal, has been won by the DA – where the DA has been in control since 2011.
The outcomes for the sixth local municipality, Emfuleni, have not yet been published, but trends indicate that this, too, will be a hung council.
This indicates that the ruling ANC has struggled to garner enough support in smaller municipalities that it previously controlled.
Similarly, in Merafong City, the party will have to negotiate to form a government, but unlike in Lesedi, it fell below 50%. It managed 48.97% of the vote.
In the Rand West municipality, the ANC performed even worse, getting 45.33% of the total vote – and it risks being toppled by a coalition of opposition parties.
As expected, the party lost support in Mogale City, where it received 48.84% of the vote in the 2016 local government elections. This time around, it got only 40.17%.
A final result for Emfuleni municipality is yet to come, but with the majority of results having been captured, the party is set to lose the municipality. By the time of publication, the party stood at 38.81%, followed by the DA at 28% and EFF at 15.46%.
These results may mean the ANC in Gauteng will relinquish its stronghold on local government, as all indications are it will battle to form governments in the three metros.
An interim election satisfaction survey (ESS) assessment conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has overwhelmingly determined that the 2021 Local Government Elections were free and fair.