South Africa’s African National Congress suffered a major setback in last week’s municipal elections, taking 31% of the vote with 99% counted, compared with 25% for the Democratic Alliance. The ANC’s result was roughly 14 percentage points below its 2021 local-election performance. Former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party placed third with about 10%, while hundreds of smaller parties divided the remaining votes. Final results were expected at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Sunday, Nov. 8. The ANC remained South Africa’s largest party but failed to secure an outright majority in any of the eight major metropolitan areas, including Johannesburg and Pretoria. With no party exceeding 50% in many cities, parties have 14 days to negotiate coalition agreements before municipal councils are formed. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula called the result "catastrophic" and said the party would not seek positions at any cost. In Johannesburg, the DA led with about 35% against the ANC’s 20%, strengthening Helen Zille’s prospects of becoming mayor subject to coalition agreements. The DA said it would open talks with parties committed to clean and accountable government, tackling corruption, service delivery, the rule of law and non-racialism. The ANC’s support has weakened amid voter frustration over corruption, unemployment above 34%, and failures in basic services including water and electricity.