More than a week after South Africa’s Local Government Elections, up to 139 hung councils remain in limbo, with political parties yet to reach formal agreements on who will govern many of the country’s municipalities.
Coalition negotiations are expected to gather momentum, but so far there has been more public posturing, demands and political rhetoric than concrete outcomes.
A big focus is on Gauteng, where ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has indicated that he is unwilling to work with the DA in Johannesburg while Helen Zille remains its mayoral candidate. Mashaba even offered to withdraw from the Johannesburg mayoral race himself, provided that Zille also steps aside.
ActionSA’s National Chairperson Michael Beaumont later said the party does not have a problem with the DA itself, but rather with certain mayoral candidates, including Zille and Tshwane’s Cilliers Brink, whom he believes have demonstrated an inability to manage coalition governments.
However, ActionSA appears to be keeping its options open elsewhere. Beaumont says the party is close to securing a coalition agreement with the DA and former Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Retief Odendaal in the metro. The DA has not issued anything confirming this.
The ANC’s position could prove decisive
Attention is firmly on the ANC, which suffered a significant decline in support in the elections, losing control of dozens of municipalities.
The party went from controlling 122 councils following the 2021 Local Government Elections to just 54 after this year’s polls.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu has said no party has been ruled out as a potential coalition partner, with all negotiations to be guided by the party’s National Executive Committee.
She has also stressed that the ANC will not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, suggesting that coalition arrangements could differ from one municipality to another.
The NEC deliberated on the party’s coalition strategy on Thursday, 12 November, but its position has yet to be clearly communicated.
This leaves parties waiting to see whether the ANC is prepared to work with the DA in certain municipalities or whether it will favour arrangements with other parties, including ActionSA, the EFF and smaller political formations.
DA opens talks with all parties
The DA, meanwhile, has indicated that it is prepared to engage with all political parties, including the ANC and the MK Party, in municipalities where no party has secured an outright majority.
DA leader and Cape Town Mayor-elect Geordin Hill-Lewis says the focus must be on establishing stable coalition governments.
The DA emerged as the largest party in four metros – Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Hill-Lewis has argued that parties should put their political differences aside and prioritise residents, while pointing out that there are several possible models for coalition government beyond traditional power-sharing agreements.
He has also committed to making any final coalition agreements public, in the interests of transparency and accountability.
Parties drawing their own red lines
The Freedom Front Plus has outlined a proposed three-party arrangement to govern Gauteng’s metros without the ANC, suggesting that an agreement could be reached relatively quickly if certain personality clashes were resolved.
During an interview with BizNews, party leader Corné Mulder warned that if the DA chooses to enter into an agreement with the ANC in Johannesburg, the FF Plus would walk away from coalition arrangements elsewhere.
Meanwhile, several left-wing parties, including the SACP, EFF, MK Party and Afrika Mayibuye Movement, have warned that they will not support ANC-led coalitions with the DA in hung municipalities.
They have also dismissed suggestions that they would return to the ANC if President Cyril Ramaphosa were to resign.
Left-wing parties, including the SACP, EFF, MK Party, Afrika Mayibuye Movement and others, have warned they will not support ANC-led coalitions with the DA in hung municipalities and dismissed claims that they would return to the ANC if President Cyril Ramaphosa resigns.
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#ANC #EFF #SACP #CoalitionTalks #IOL
— IOL News (@IOL) November 13, 2026
As the election results were declared on Sunday, 8 November, President Ramaphosa urged political parties to put their differences aside and act in the interests of residents.
With 139 councils requiring some form of political agreement, the coming days will be critical in determining who governs, and under what conditions.
