2021 Municipal Election Results: ANC and DA Losing Support as Small Parties Grow

As the municipal election results continue to trickle in, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) look set to experience a significant decline in support across the country.

With 51% of the votes counted on Tuesday evening, the ANC’s support stood at an all time low of 46.4% nationally, a decline of 13.93% compared to its 2016’s support of 53.91%.

The DA’s current national support of 22.64% is a decline of 15.84% compared to the party’s 26.9% support in 2016.

The top 3 largest political parties (ANC, DA and EFF) were expected to lose support due to the growth of smaller parties. However, nationally, the EFF’s support continues to grow. The part’s support currently stands at 9.91%, 21% higher than it was in 2016.

Although almost half of the votes have not been counted yet, the percentages we are seeing now are unlikely to change significantly tomorrow.

The table below shows how the results looked around 8pm on Tuesday, and also shows the percentage of support the top 10 parties received in the previous elections.

*NB: Vote count in 2021: 51%, other years: 100%. The numbers for 2021 are expected to change. The final results will be announced later this week.

As can be seen from the table above, smaller parties, particularly the VFPLUS and the PA, are showing significant growth in support. This is how the current numbers compare to 2016’s final results:

Party: % increase/decrease in support
ANC: -13.93%
DA: -15.84%
EFF: +21%
VFPLUS: +281.82%
IFP: +6.35%
PA: +1471.43%
ICOSA: +100%

The counting of votes is expected to be finalised on Wednesday, followed by the official announcement of results on Thursday.