2016 South African municipal elections

Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities, each of which consists of several local municipalities. After the 2016 election there were eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.^[6]

District and metropolitan (red) municipalities

Local municipalities

The councils of metropolitan and local municipalities are elected by a system of mixed-member proportional representation, in which half of the seats in each municipality are elected on the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards and the other half of the seats are allocated according to the proportional representation (PR) system. The latter takes into account the number of ward seats won by a party, and ensures that the final number of seats held by that party is proportional to their percentage of the total vote.^[7] District municipality councils are partly elected by proportional representation and partly appointed by the councils of the constituent local municipalities.^[8] Voters in both metropolitan and local municipalities elect a single ward candidate as well as a proportional representative in their municipal council. Residents of municipalities that form part of district councils (that is, excluding metropolitan municipalities) also cast a third vote to elect a proportional representative for their district council in addition to the two votes they cast for their local council.^[9]

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been the majority party in most municipalities across South Africa, with the exception of those in the Western Cape, since 1994. Its overall share of the vote decreased slightly from 65.7% in 2006 to 62.93% in 2011 amid growing discontent regarding the state of the country's economy and perceived corruption within the organisation since the end of apartheid.^[10] The party was led by Jacob Zuma, who was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa at the 57th National Conference in December 2017.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) increased its total share of the vote from 16.3% in 2006 to 24.1% in 2011, while assuming control of most Western Cape councils. The party contested an election for the first time under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane, who succeeded Helen Zille as leader in May 2015.^[11]

The newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, contested its first municipal election since its formation in 2013. Smaller parties included the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which held several municipalities in its stronghold KwaZulu-Natal, and the Congress of the People (COPE), which was expected to decrease its share of the vote after the decline in support following the 2014 general election.^[12] The National Freedom Party (NFP), a breakaway from the IFP led by former IFP chairperson Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, was barred from participating in the election after it failed to pay its registration fee to the Independent Electoral Commission.^[13] The party had support in areas where the IFP had been strong, and prior to the election governed a number of municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal in coalition with the African National Congress. The NFP was, however, allowed to contest the election in one municipality, Nquthu, where its local branch had paid the registration fee on time.^[14] The party obtained just two seats in this council, down from five seats in 2011.

The country's ruling party, the ANC, was reported to have spent R1 billion (US$71 million) in campaigning in the election.^[15][16] The Democratic Alliance (DA) was reported to have spent R350 million and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) spent between R15 million and R20 million.^[16] The United Democratic Movement (UDM) reportedly spent under R4 million contesting the election.^[16]

The top three issues of the election were the constantly high unemployment rate, corruption and poor service delivery by government.^[17] A major campaign issue during the election was corruption within the ANC, in particular President Jacob Zuma's relationship with the Gupta family^[18] and funding for the construction of his homestead at Nkandla.^[19]

The ANC was accused by commentators and the DA^[20] of trying to make racism a key electoral issue by racialising the election.^[21]

The run-up to the election was marked by a number of murders of ANC candidates allegedly by rivals within the ANC in an effort to secure lucrative positions in local government.^[22] Inter ANC rivalries^[23] also sparked protests from 20 to 22 June 2016 in the City of Tshwane over the ANC's selection of Thoko Didiza as mayoral candidate for the city^[24] that left 5 people dead.^[25]

In January 2017 the ANC was taken to court by a South African public relations expert (Sihle Bolani) for work done during the elections, Bolani stated that the ANC used her to launch and run a covert R50 million fake news and disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting opposition parties during the election.^[26][27][28]

In his book How to Steal a City (2017), author Crispian Olver states that corruption and state capture within the ANC governed Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality led to the party losing the city to the DA in the 2016 elections.^[29]

South Africa's Municipal Demarcation Board announced changed ward demarcations and municipal boundaries, following former Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan suggesting the redrawing of boundaries to make municipalities more sustainable and financially viable. There are 34 cases that affect 90 municipalities.^[30] The DA objected, and MP James Selfe has announced that the DA would take the Board to court over what it says is clear party-motivated and irrational boundary determinations.^[31]

The two major political parties announced that they were specifically targeting certain municipalities for the 2016 election. The African National Congress (ANC) claimed that, in addition to maintaining control of certain municipalities, it would also take control of the City of Cape Town.^[32] The Democratic Alliance announced a "big five" plan to target specific municipalities: three metropolitan; Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Tlokwe Local Municipality for takeover, and an increased majority in Cape Town.^[33]

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) remained the largest party, obtaining 53.91% of the votes nationally, a fall from the 62.93% achieved in 2011. The Democratic Alliance (DA) remained the second largest at 26.90%, up from 24.1% in 2011. The Economic Freedom Fighters obtained 8.19% in their first municipal election.

The decline in ANC support was most significant in urban areas, with the ANC losing its outright majority in 4 of the country's 8 metropolitan municipalities for the first time since 1994. The ANC retained Buffalo City, Mangaung and eThekwini, but with decreased majorities in Buffalo City and eThekwini. In the City of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, the ANC lost its majority but retained a plurality. The DA increased its majority in the City of Cape Town, and achieved pluralities in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, its first in metropolitan municipalities outside of the Western Cape. Of the 4 hung metropolitan municipalities, the ANC retained Ekurhuleni through a coalition, while the DA gained control of Nelson Mandela Bay through a coalition, and formed minority governments in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Results by Municipal Type

The statistics in this section are all sourced from the Independent Electoral Commission's official website unless specified otherwise.

Metropolitan Municipalities

More information Party, Type of Control ...

Party		Type of Control	Municipalities	Change
	African National Congress	ANC Majority	3	4
		ANC Coalition	1	1
		Total	4	3
	Democratic Alliance	DA Majority	1	0
		DA Coalition	1	1
		DA Minority	2	2
		Total	4	3

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District Municipalities

Local Municipalities

More information Party, Type of Control ...

Party		Type of Control	Municipalities	Change
	African National Congress	ANC Majority	158	5 1/6[b]
		ANC Coalition	3	18 1/2[c]
		ANC Minority	2	1
		Total	163	13 2/3
	Democratic Alliance	DA Majority	17	5 2/3[d]
		DA Coalition	8	2
		DA Minority	4	4
		Total	29	7 2/3
	Inkatha Freedom Party	IFP Majority	6	4
		IFP Minority	5	5
		Total	11	9
	COPE	COPE Coalition	0	1
		Total	0	1
	ICOSA	ICOSA Coalition	0	1
		Total	0	1
	National Freedom Party	NFP Majority	0	1
		NFP Coalition	0	1
		Total	0	2

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