ELECTIONS 2026 | ANC leads as DA trails by just 10 627 votes
· The South African
The African National Congress (ANC) remains the leading party in South Africa’s 2026 municipal election results, narrowly ahead of the Democratic Alliance (DA) as vote counting continues.
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According to the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) results dashboard, the ANC had secured 31.36% of valid votes nationally by 08:01 on Thursday, 5 November.
The DA followed closely with 31.04%, leaving just 0.32 percentage points between the two parties.
With 18% of votes counted, the ANC had received 1 039 116 votes, compared with the DA’s 1 028 489 — a difference of just 10,627 votes.
ANC leads in 10 councils
The ANC also led the council standings, with 153 seats recorded on the IEC dashboard, compared with the DA’s 113.
The party was leading in 10 councils and had secured control of three, while the DA was leading in one council and controlled one.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) was leading in one council and had secured 33 seats.
MK Party takes third spot
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) held third place nationally with 5.43%, representing 179,773 votes.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) followed on 4.93%, ahead of the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) on 4.45%.
The PA stood at 4.35%, while the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and ActionSA had secured 2.57% and 2.55%, respectively.
More election results expected
The ANC’s early lead comes as the IEC continues counting ballots following Wednesday’s municipal elections.
With 82% of votes still to be counted nationally at 08:01, the standings could change as more voting districts report their results.
The national vote tally does not determine control of individual municipalities, where parties must secure sufficient council seats to govern.
The IEC continues to capture and verify results, which are available on its official election results dashboard.