Following the election results released on Thursday, it is proven that ANC has lost its outright majority in eThekwini Municipality and will need to form a coalition with a smaller party to retain control because the opposition vote was broken across the four major political parties and a slew of smaller parties.

According to the preliminary local government election results highlighted on the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) website, the ANC got 42,02% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which got 25,69% of the vote, the economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) which garnered 10,48% and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which got 7,13% of the vote.

Support for the Democratic Alliance dropped by slightly more than 1 %, while the EFF gained the most votes in the election, growing its percentage of the vote from 3,44% in 2016 to just over 10% The ANC was the biggest loser in eThekweni, having lost a 14% of the share of votes compared to the previous municipal elections. 

The balance of the votes was split among small parties, including ActionSA which got 1,93% of the vote; Independent candidates got 2,14% and the Democratic Liberal Congress got 0,63% of the vote.

The ANC will be forced to form a coalition with one of the opposition parties, to obtain a majority, but earlier said that it would not do so with the DA