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South Africa’s ANC on track for new lows in local polls

Read the original at Al Jazeera ↗
Cite

AFP; Reuters. (2026, November 5). South Africa’s ANC on track for new lows in local polls. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/5/south-africas-anc-on-track-for-new-lows-in-local-polls?traffic_source=rss

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Al Jazeera · collected 2026-11-05 · by AFP; Reuters

Quick Summary

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) saw its vote share drop sharply in recent municipal elections, falling below 32 percent with over 60 percent of votes counted. The Democratic Alliance secured second place at about 25 percent, and former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party took third with around 8.5 percent. Turnout was up to 54.5 percent compared to the last municipal elections in 2021. These results indicate a continued erosion of ANC support since their peak of nearly 70 percent in national elections in 2004, signaling potential challenges ahead for the party before the next general election in 2029.
Written by AI on 2026-11-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

South Africans voted in local government elections on November 1, 2026, which could mark a significant decline for the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The election saw a record 29.2 million registered voters across South Africa, aiming to evaluate the party's performance since leading the country out of white minority rule. Early results indicate that while the ANC is still leading in some areas, its share of the vote has sharply decreased compared to previous elections. In Johannesburg, for instance, the ANC secured about 32% of the votes, trailing behind the Democratic Alliance (DA). The election outcomes are crucial as they reflect voter dissatisfaction with issues like water outages, power cuts, and poor infrastructure under ANC leadership.

Written for “South Africa Local Elections” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 10 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 132879 · logged 2026-11-06

Story

📰 South Africa Local Elections
Politics · 11 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 21% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
ABC News (US)
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 67/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different elections: US midterm results and South Africa's municipal polls.”
The Hindu
Hedges 2 of 14 claims Outlet record 77/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A reports on the killing of an opposition party organiser, while Article B discusses early results from local municipal elections.”
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes the issues leading up to the municipal elections, while Article B reports on early results from those elections.”
Deutsche Welle
Hedges 7 of 62 claims Outlet record 95/100
“Article A discusses voter sentiment and motivations before the election, while Article B reports on early results after the election.”
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses expectations for municipal elections, while Article B reports on early results from those elections.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
3 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
60/100
Al Jazeera's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
11
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Al Jazeera · 5050 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)

Who wrote this

AFP; Reuters
92 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The results of this week’s local ballot will offer a key measure of voters’ sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election.
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Also by AFP; Reuters
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 92 articles by AFP; Reuters →

Topics

ANC CSIR Johannesburg South Africa South Africa’s

Subjects

ANC ORG · 4× CSIR ORG · 2× Johannesburg GPE · 2× South Africa GPE · 2× South Africa’s GPE · 2× African NORP · 1× Hyron Andrews PERSON · 1× Morocco GPE · 1× the African National Congress ORG · 1× the Democratic Alliance ORG · 1×

Narrative

The party, now led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has borne the brunt of criticism about years of municipal mismanagement that have left South Africans grappling with failing water supplies, persistent power cuts and crumbling public services. It has also faced corruption allegations, while splinter parties have eaten away at its support base.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-06
🔮 The results of this week’s local ballot will offer a key measure of voters’ sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election.
2026-11-06 · Al Jazeera
South Africa’s ANC on track for new lows in local polls · mixed framing

Claims (14 extracted, 3 hedged)

South Africa’s early municipal election results have shown the African National Congress (ANC) with a sharply reduced vote share, weakening the long-dominant party’s control of key cities such as Johannesburg. asserted
results → show → Johannesburg
The ANC was on about 32 percent of the vote, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in second place at 25 percent, after more than 60 percent of the votes had been counted in this week’s municipal elections, data from the election commission showed late on Thursday. asserted
data → count → Thursday
Meanwhile, former President Jacob Zuma’s breakaway opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party was in third place with 8.5 percent, below levels suggested by opinion polls. uncertain
party → suggest → polls
About 15.9 million of 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, the electoral commission said, putting turnout at an estimated 54.5 percent, up from 46 percent in the pandemic-hit 2021 local elections. asserted
commission → register → elections
The ANC, which has been South Africa’s largest party since it led the country out of apartheid in 1994, has tended to do worse in municipal elections than nationally and has acknowledged its failures in local governance. asserted
it → lead → governance
From nearly 70 percent of the national vote in 2004, the ANC fell below 50 percent for the first time in the 2021 municipal elections, winning 46 percent. asserted
ANC → fall → percent
At the 2024 national elections, it managed just more than 40 percent and was forced to accept a unity government with nine other parties, including the DA. asserted
it → manage → DA
The party, now led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has borne the brunt of criticism about years of municipal mismanagement that have left South Africans grappling with failing water supplies, persistent power cuts and crumbling public services. It has also faced corruption allegations, while splinter parties have eaten away at its support base. asserted
parties → lead → base
The results of this week’s local ballot will offer a key measure of voters’ sentiment ahead of the 2029 general election. asserted
results → offer → election
The MK party had been tipped as one of the few parties capable of securing an outright majority in the eastern port city of Durban. asserted
party → tip → Durban
But projections by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a state-funded research body, put its support there at 32 percent. asserted
projections → fund → percent
The DA, meanwhile, was forecast to retain control of tourist magnet Cape Town with 56 percent of the vote, with its leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, already declaring victory. The party was also leading with 34 percent in Johannesburg, the country’s financial capital, after running a spirited campaign spearheaded by its former leader, Helen Zille, 75, according to CSIR projections. uncertain
party → forecast → projections
With outright majorities far from assured in several major cities, the results could usher in another round of complex coalition negotiations, with parties bargaining to assemble the alliances needed to govern. uncertain
parties → assure → alliances
Final results are expected on Sunday. asserted
results → expect → Sunday
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