IEC to declare final local election results at 6pm today, with the ANC near 31%

Developing story: the final figures have not yet been declared. This report covers what is known as of Sunday morning and will be updated once the IEC announces the results.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will officially announce the final results of the 2026 local government elections at 6pm today at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand. President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to give the traditional keynote address, and representatives of all parties are expected to attend.

What is known before the declaration

The ANC's national share is reported at about 30.81%, down from 45.59% in 2021. In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK Party has about 34% and the ANC about 20.3%. Saturday evening's count, with 99% of votes counted, put the ANC on 30.88% of valid votes. The small difference between the two figures reflects different counts, and the IEC's declared numbers will be the official ones.

These are not final results. Recounts and objections that were still being processed on Saturday could change individual ward outcomes.

Hung councils will take time

South Africans will have to wait at least two weeks for the final outcome in hung councils, where no party has a majority. Councils must hold their first meetings within 14 days of the declaration, and coalition talks have not formally begun.

What parties have said

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, speaking on Saturday, called the result a "catastrophic disaster". He said the party's own polls had told it to expect 34%, and that "the ANC will not be in a hurry to get into coalitions." He added that the party is "not in the business of begging for a mayorship or any other position."

EFF leader Julius Malema said that if the MK Party demanded that Ramaphosa step aside, the ANC would have to agree. That is Malema's view, not a statement of ANC policy.

The ANC's National Executive Committee is due to meet to assess the results.

What we do not yet know

We do not yet know the final national percentages, the number of hung councils or the seat totals, all of which depend on the IEC's declaration. The IEC has not, in the reports we reviewed, confirmed the outcome of the remaining recounts and objections. Separate reports about the ANC leadership rest on anonymous sources and are not covered here.