{
  "id": 18984524,
  "title": "ANC suffers worst municipal election result as support falls below one-third",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/anc-suffers-worst-municipal-election-result-as-support-falls-below",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-08T17:17:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/dailynews/news/2026-11-08-anc-suffers-worst-municipal-election-result-as-support-falls-below-one-third/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Twenty years ago, the African National Congress (ANC) secured almost two-thirds of the municipal votes, but the party's support has plummeted to less than one-third in Sunday's final election results, with no single metro returning an outright majority. Former president Cyril Ramaphosa is contemplating his own future within the party, as the ANC's top seven office-bearers grapple with the aftermath. The party's national showing is now at 30.81%, a significant decline of nearly 15 percentage points from the 45.6% garnered in 2021 and less than half of the 64.9% it received in 2006. The ANC once won outright majorities in two metros, and in 2011, it claimed seven out of eight. ANC leader Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma called for a self-critical examination of the party's shortcomings, urging humility, integrity, and compassion. A senior insider blamed the party's leadership for the defeat, stating that the current leadership ranks among the worst in ANC history. Political analyst Louw Nel suggested that the party's leaders could face removal a year ahead of schedule if coalition talks fail. The ANC's electoral losses are attributed to a combination of factors, including corruption, incompetence, arrogance, and a failure to address the needs of South Africans. The party's support has dwindled across all metros since 2011, with the sharpest decline in eThekwini, where the ANC's vote share dropped from 61.07% in 2011 to 16.46% in 2021. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula pledged to \"listen to the voices of our people\" and \"go back and fix our house,\" acknowledging that service delivery failures have made campaigning challenging.",
  "summary": "The ANC’s support has fallen to 30.81% in the 2026 municipal elections, leaving it without an outright majority in any metro and facing renewed leadership and coalition pressure.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}