2026 local government elections real time results and updates

[thestaggy]

The ANC are getting absolutely pumped in Mogale City (West Rand). 87% of the votes counted and they got 40% in 2021.



Looking at Gauteng as a whole; if the DA, ActionSA and the VF+ can work together, they could take a number of munis.

As things stand, DA+ActionSA+VF takes Mogale City and Ekurhuleni, while the DA and ActionSA can take COJ and Tshwane.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

He can't work with Zille and he is averse to taking responsibility so that sharing thing wont work.

He will want to have Joburg and Tshwane for him himself and Moyo. Mashaba didn't exactly do great in Joburg he spent the whole time making corruption claims he could never back up.

He has no choice if he wants a seat at the table. DA has options, he doesn't. Benefit of being the largest party. The nerve to even make demands over another party's leadership, when he's unelected himself...

 

[ToxicBunny]

I do not trust them! I will not rest easy until the final results are posted! Maybe someone, somewhere, is furiously stuffing ballot boxes and the final 54% will hold serious surprises!

The votes were largely all counted by Thursday early morning, all the processes now are about capturing and auditing the results.

 

[wingnut771]

Nah, needs to be quite a bit under 50% for the city to be ok.

We need them to be around 41 - 43% at most for their to be a reasonable chance that all the one seat parties don't just cosy up to them for access to the trough.

Cutting it fine, like KZN GNU coalition with 1 seat advantage:

 

[Captain Slog]

The votes were largely all counted by Thursday early morning, all the processes now are about capturing and auditing the results.

Comment remains the same!

"I do not trust them! I will not rest easy until the final results are posted! Maybe someone, somewhere, is furiously stuffing ballot boxes and the final 54% will hold serious surprises!"

 

[SykomantiS]

The ANC are getting absolutely pumped in Mogale City (West Rand). 87% of the votes counted and they got 40% in 2021.

View attachment 1951470

Looking at Gauteng as a whole; if the DA, ActionSA and the VF+ can work together, they could take a number of munis.

As things stand, DA+ActionSA+VF takes Mogale City and Ekurhuleni, while the DA and ActionSA can take COJ and Tshwane.

Will DA and ASA work together though? That is the burning question.

 

[HAL 9000]

 

[ToxicBunny]

Will DA and ASA work together though? That is the burning question.

I'd assume there are significant back-room discussions happening as well as instructions from major funders and such at this point.

 

[Tman*]

Shocking difference in interview responses. One party made me feel they are doing us a favour to exist

 

[rietrot]

I still use this as an example.

My municipal refuse bin was falling apart (it was more than 15 years old).
I requested a new bin on the City Of Cape Towns website just after lunch time on a Friday afternoon.
They then delivered a brand new bin and collected the old the next morning, yes on the Saturday.

Municipal employees work the hardest when they can claim overtime.

When the power goes out on Thursday they will complete the repair Sunday night. Their timing is always perfect.

 

[TheChamp]

How do the seats work? I see some parties have lower support but more seats?

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

View attachment 1951476

 

[Nerfherder]

I still use this as an example.

My municipal refuse bin was falling apart (it was more than 15 years old).
I requested a new bin on the City Of Cape Towns website just after lunch time on a Friday afternoon.
They then delivered a brand new bin and collected the old the next morning, yes on the Saturday.

Its seemingly small things like this that win over the votes of most Cape Townians.
I was chatting to a friend who had recently moved down and he was moaning about his bin being broken.
So I told him to just log a ticket for a new one, then he was moaning about how its going to take a long time and probably cost something. Eventually he logged the call and it came within a few days, no cost, no questions.

People still get shocked as to how good it is here. We often have overhead cables being fixed on a sunday night, blocked drains cleared on the same day we log it... it certainly gives you a good reason to keep voting the same way.

 

[CTBP]

You Christian I suppose ? Looks like biblical morals.

 

[Kosmik]

There is some different dynamic at play with the MKP and ANC.

KZN has always been heavily tribal/ traditional.

 

[thestaggy]

Will DA and ASA work together though? That is the burning question.

It was a big 'if' in my post. History and egos would need to be put aside.

 

[wbot]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2118568098714513742

 

[Sideshow Bob]

How do the seats work? I see some parties have lower support but more seats?

ChatGPT alert

South Africa’s local government elections use a mixed system. That is why you sometimes see a party with fewer votes overall receiving more seats than another party in a particular comparison.
The important distinction is between ward seats and PR seats.

1. How the seats are divided​

In metropolitan councils (Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini, Cape Town, etc.):

• 50% of council seats are ward seats.
• 50% of council seats are proportional representation (PR) seats.

Source:
Education and Training Unit+1

50%​

Ward seats
Won by individual candidates in wards

50%​

PR seats
Allocated to parties based on overall support

2. Why a party with fewer votes can have more seats​

Consider a hypothetical council with 100 seats:

Party	Overall support	Ward seats won	PR seats	Total seats
Party A	40%	35	5	40
Party B	30%	10	20	30
Party C	20%	5	15	20
Party D	10%	0	10	10
Total	100%	50	50	100

Notice what happens:

• Party A wins many wards, so it needs relatively few PR seats.
• Party B wins fewer wards, so it receives more PR seats.
• Party D wins no wards but still gets 10 councillors.

The objective is to make the total seats approximately proportional to overall support, not simply to reward ward victories.

3. The important detail when reading election results​

If you look at election results, you might see:

• ANC: 30% PR votes
• DA: 25% PR votes
• EFF: 10% PR votes

But those percentages are not necessarily the same as their overall vote share used for calculating total council seats.
The calculation also incorporates votes cast for their ward candidates.
Mail & Guardian+1

4. What determines who controls the municipality?​

Ultimately, the number of council seats matters, not simply the percentage of PR votes.

• 50% + 1 seat = an outright majority.
• Below 50% = a party generally needs support from other parties to pass decisions and elect leadership.
• A party can receive the most votes but still fail to control the council.

If you want, I can demonstrate exactly how Johannesburg or eThekwini's 2021 election votes were converted into council seats, including why ActionSA and EFF received seats despite not winning wards.

Let's use Johannesburg's 2021 local election as an example to make the seat allocation easier to understand.
There are two separate calculations:

1. Ward seats: The candidate who wins a ward becomes a councillor.
2. PR seats: These compensate for the difference between ward victories and a party's proportional share of the council.

The important point is that a party's total representation is intended to reflect its overall electoral support, including ward votes.

Johannesburg 2021: Actual votes versus seats​

City of Johannesburg · 270 councillors · 135 wards
Here is the actual result:

Party	Overall support	Ward seats	PR seats	Total seats
ANC	33.6%	87	4	91
DA	26.1%	43	28	71
ActionSA	16.1%	0	44	44
EFF	10.6%	0	29	29
PA	2.9%	2	6	8
IFP	2.4%	2	5	7
FF Plus	1.3%	0	4	4

Source: IEC 2021 results.

Mandate SA+1

The interesting part​

ActionSA concerned as DA’s ‘fake doctor’ set for promotion to Parliament



ActionSA
16.1% support · 44 councillors
44 PR seats · zero ward seats
Economic Freedom Fighters Logo PNG Vector (PDF) Free Download



EFF
10.6% support · 29 councillors
29 PR seats · zero ward seats
ActionSA and EFF did not win a single ward in Johannesburg, but they still received 44 and 29 councillors respectively because of proportional representation.
Meanwhile, the ANC won 87 wards but received only 4 PR seats.
Why? The ANC had already secured many seats through ward victories. ActionSA and EFF needed their representation to come almost entirely through PR.

How this affects coalition politics​

• ANC: 91 seats
• DA: 71 seats
• ActionSA: 44 seats
• EFF: 29 seats

136 seats needed for majority
Even though the ANC was the largest party, it was far short of a majority.
This is why coalition negotiations became so important in Johannesburg.
If you want, I can explain something even more interesting:
Why the ANC can receive 33.6% of votes but only 33.7% of seats, while ActionSA gets almost exactly 16.3% of seats from 16.1% support — and how the IEC mathematically calculates those PR seats

The IEC's PR calculation is actually quite clever. It is designed to make council seats reflect voters' preferences as closely as possible, while still allowing people to elect their local ward councillor.

1. The basic mathematical principle​

Johannesburg has 270 councillors:

• 135 ward councillors.
• 135 PR councillors.

But the IEC does not simply allocate PR seats according to PR ballot percentages. It considers the combined votes received by a party through its ward candidates and its PR list.

The idea is:

Total seats a party deserves − ward seats already won = PR seats still required.

This is why parties that win many wards receive fewer PR seats.

Let's calculate it using the actual Johannesburg 2021 figures.

1. The IEC quota​

The IEC's official seat calculation used:

• Total council seats: 270
• Valid combined ward and PR party votes: 1,834,260
• Quota: 6,794 votes per seat

Mandate SA+1
That means approximately every 6,794 combined votes entitled a party to one councillor.

2. Example: ActionSA​

ActionSA received approximately 296,345 combined ward and PR votes.

Calculation:

\[296345 \div 6794 \approx 43.62\]
So ActionSA initially qualified for approximately 43 seats, with the remaining seat allocations determined by the IEC's highest-remainder calculation.

Final result:

• Ward seats: 0
• PR seats: 44
• Total: 44 councillors

ESP+1

3. Example: ANC​

The ANC received approximately 617,000 combined votes.

\[617000 \div 6794 \approx 90.82\]
The ANC therefore received approximately 91 seats overall.

But it had already won 87 wards.

\[91-87=4\]
Thus:

• Ward seats: 87
• PR seats: 4
• Total: 91 councillors

4. The final Johannesburg result​

ESP+1
One correction to keep in mind: The quota calculation is not simply a fixed number of votes per seat in every municipality. Independent ward winners and remaining-seat calculations can affect the final allocation.

The biggest takeaway​

In South African local elections:

• A ward victory guarantees one ward councillor.
• A party's combined ward and PR support determines its proportional entitlement.
• PR seats compensate for ward seats already won.
• The final council composition is designed to reflect overall support proportionally.

If you want, I can next explain why South Africa gives voters two ballots in local elections, and whether voting ANC in your ward but DA on the PR ballot can actually help both parties.

.

 

[porchrat]

How do the seats work? I see some parties have lower support but more seats?

2 ways you get seats:

1. wards won
2. general vote percentage

50% of the seats come from each category (this is why you got 2 sheets when you voted)

You can have lower percentage vote, but win a ton of wards with only a few people in them. Hence more seats.

 

[Nerfherder]

Maybe John can offer Beaumont his wife back as a peace offering.

but John got tossed out with the garbage so perhaps thats an olive branch ?

I'm happy for them to chuck him further under the bus if we can keep the ANC out.