South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has suffered a major setback in local elections. With 99% of the votes counted by Sunday, the national vote share for the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, dropped to 31%, a decline of about 14 percentage points compared to the 2021 local elections. Its main rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), secured 25% of the vote, while former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe party won approximately 10%. Having failed to win an absolute majority in any major metropolitan area, the ANC will face difficult coalition negotiations in forming municipal governments. ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula described the outcome as "disastrous."