South Africa’s ANC suffers setback in local elections

With 99 percent of votes counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC has secured 31 percent in South Africa’s municipal elections, compared with 25 percent for the Democratic Alliance. The ANC’s support is down roughly 14 percentage points from 2021, and it failed to win an outright majority in any of the eight major metro areas, including Johannesburg and Pretoria. Municipal governments will require coalitions or deals with smaller parties, with negotiations scheduled to last 14 days. The setback comes amid voter frustration over corruption, unemployment above 34 percent, and failures in basic services.