Who will control Tshwane after the hung council result? Analyst weighs in

The City of Tshwane, one of South Africa's metropolitan cities, has five seats awarded to it in the recently held Local Government Elections. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) confirmed that the elections were conducted fairly, and the political parties now have 14 days to form a government. The DA leads the council with 74 seats, followed by ActionSA with 48 seats, the ANC with 44 seats, VF Plus with 17 seats, EFF with 13 seats, MK Party with 4 seats, SACP with 4 seats, and PA with 2 seats. Other smaller parties have one seat each.

Political analyst Dr Levy Ndou stated that it is challenging to predict which party will partner with the DA to form a stable government. The tensions between DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille and the DA's mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, have created a hurdle for forming a coalition. Ndou believes that tensions might be resolved if someone brings Mashaba and Zille together. He also suggested that smaller parties might form a coalition that excludes the DA from government within the next 14 days.

If the FF Plus chooses not to form a coalition with ActionSA, ANC, and EFF, these parties might need a smaller party's support to form a government with a 109-seat majority. Dr Ndou emphasized that any combination is possible at this point, and the next 14 days are critical for political parties to put their differences aside and collaborate in forming a government.