Developing story: results remain provisional and the IEC is expected to declare the official results on Sunday. The remarks below are as reported from Mbalula’s briefing; the quotes should be confirmed against a recording or transcript.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party will not rush into coalitions after its local election slump, and that sitting in opposition is an option.
“The ANC will not be in a hurry to get into coalitions. That is not the only option. There is also an option to sit in opposition,” Mbalula said at a briefing at the IEC’s national results centre in Midrand.
“Humility” and no begging
“We will accept this lesson with humility,” Mbalula said. “We cannot ask people to trust us just merely because of our history. It gives us a responsibility to serve, not an entitlement to govern.”
He said the ANC is “not in the business of begging for a mayorship or any other position” and that the party will confront the reasons people became disillusioned. He also said residents “have every right to demand better”.
The numbers
Reported figures put the ANC’s national share at 30.91% in 2026, against 45.59% in the 2021 local elections. In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK Party is on about 34% of the vote and the ANC on 20.5%, compared with 41.4% for the ANC in the province in 2021, the same reports say.
Mbalula said the party had expected to be “totally wiped out” in KwaZulu-Natal and that the result showed the ANC “steadily coming back”.
What happens next
Mbalula said no formal coalition talks have begun. He said the ANC leadership will meet soon to map an action plan, that each municipality will be looked at, and that the National Executive Committee will decide.
He pointed out that the ANC leads the government of national unity and holds the presidency, and said that government serves every municipality in the country.
What we do not yet know
The IEC has not yet declared the official results, and the figures above are not final. We do not yet know when the ANC leadership will meet, which municipalities it will prioritise, or how its position will shape talks in hung councils.
