How the BizNews Tribe reacted to LGE 2026 as it happened

When South Africa voted on 4 November, the BizNews Tribe didn't wait for the headlines. Across two of our Premium WhatsApp groups, members posted IEC screenshots from small Karoo towns before dawn, called MK's outright win in Richmond nine hours before it was confirmed, corrected viral statistics and each other, and argued late into Sunday night over whether Helen Zille or Herman Mashaba is the bigger obstacle to a stable Johannesburg. This is LGE 2026 as the Tribe lived it: the queues, the surprises, the ANC's fall to 53 outright councils, the 138 hung councils that followed, and the coalition maths now being worked out. Become a BizNews Premium member to read the full recap and join the conversation in our Premium WhatsApp groups..BizNews Reporter.South Africa's 2026 local government elections ended on Sunday night with the IEC declaring the vote free and fair. The ANC remains the largest party on 30.76%, down from 47.5% in 2021, and only 74 of the country's 213 councils have a party with an outright majority. In between came five days of results, surprises and coalition arithmetic, and the BizNews Tribe followed every step across two of our Premium WhatsApp groups: the BizNews Interactive group and the BizNews Elections group.This is how they saw it unfold..Queues, quiet halls and a 52% turnout.On voting day, 4 November, the reports came in from polling stations across the country. Some members found the IEC quick and efficient; others waited hours.."Long queues in Gillitts KZN. Took three hours to cast my vote."Carryn, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 4 Nov, 10:26).Where halls were empty, that worried people too.."It is a worry when there are no queues."Shana, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 4 Nov, 11:35).In the Interactive group, one member did the turnout maths as the evening figures landed.."In 2021 there were 26m registered and 12.3m voted. So we should expect 13.5m votes this year."Steff, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 4 Nov, 20:37).The final count beat that. The IEC says about 14.9 million of 29.2 million registered voters cast ballots, a 52% turnout and up from 45.9% in 2021.."People are awake to their power. The power is in our hands."Michael, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 4 Nov, 21:35).Laingsburg, Hopetown and the small-town surprises.The first results came from small rural councils, which count fastest, and the Elections group was combing the IEC dashboard before dawn on 5 November. ActionSA, with no previous foothold there, topped Laingsburg’s ward vote with 26.8%.."An election of surprises? [ActionSA] came from nowhere in little Laingsburg cutting into the previous DA (4)/PA (2) control of 10 seats council."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 05:43).In Thembelihle (Hopetown), the SGB party of the coalition mayor fell to 1.5%.."Maybe voters are starting to realise they have the power to hire and fire their political leaders."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 06:19).Makhanda (Grahamstown) was a Tribe favourite. The ANC won 10 of Makana's 25 seats on about 31% of the ward vote, down from 49.5% in 2021, while the Makana United Civic Movement took four seats in its first election.."[Makhanda] is absolutely fascinating… ANC was always going to tank here."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 13:06).Two hyper-local parties ended the week in charge or close to it. Rise Tsantsabane Communities won Tsantsabane (Postmasburg) outright, the only party other than the ANC, DA, IFP and MK to control a council, according to the IEC, and the Service Delivery Party is the largest party in Victor Khanye (Delmas).."One of the stories of the election – a party born in February has toppled the ANC and will now run Postmasburg."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 06:17).DA surges in Gauteng as the ANC's floor gives way.By mid-morning on 5 November, the metro trends were clear enough for a first read.."ANC fall catastrophic in JHB… Similar in NMB [Nelson Mandela Bay]… DA to hold CT… ANC has fallen so far in those metros that it's difficult for the kingmakers to 'swing towards the ANC block'."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 09:55).Not everyone was ready to write the ANC off.."This looks like ANC is still coming out on top nationally. But let's see as the days progress."Michael, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 11:55).He was right on that score: the ANC finished first nationally. Members also noted where it held up.."ANC has done very well in Northern Cape. It seems to be well organised there."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 12:30)."So far the only province where the ANC still enjoys over 50% majority is Limpopo."Tahnia, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 13:04).By Friday morning, with about half the councils counted, the scale of the fragmentation was obvious.."A stunning three quarters of those councils have no clear winner… the ANC patronage machine has some serious sand in the tank."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 07:05).President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking at the results declaration on Sunday, called the ANC's fall "a decline that is concerning"..MK's KwaZulu-Natal breakthrough.In KwaZulu-Natal, MK led the provincial count from the first results. One of the week's sharpest calls came at midday on Thursday.."MK outright Majority Richmond."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 5 Nov, 12:02).That evening MK won Richmond outright with 56% of the vote, a council the ANC had won with nearly 70% in 2021. MK now controls three councils outright, according to the IEC, and is the largest party in eThekwini with 86 of 223 seats, 26 short of a majority.The Tribe was split on what MK in power would mean.."I actually think the MK okes are more serious than the EFF so they might actually be a force for good."Hamish, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 08:27)."Patronage is in their blood right from the top… I think they will fail within 2 years."Rob, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 09:01).Others looked past MK altogether.."When we look at KZN what is really good to see is the real winner is IFP."Yahya, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 7 Nov, 16:28).In the Interactive group, one member argued that the commentariat was missing the story.."What I've observed that is funny is journalists and academics failing to analyse KZN and in particular MK votes."Zipho, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 7 Nov, 13:30).A blue wave on the Garden Route.On Friday the Western Cape results turned members' attention to the Garden Route, where recent by-elections had suggested the DA was vulnerable to the Patriotic Alliance.."George is secure for the DA – Gayton [McKenzie] called this one wrong."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 06:39).The DA won 28 of George's 55 seats, a bare majority that ends years of coalition government there.."I knew many were reading those George by-elections wrong (DA still grew despite PA snatching seats off them in some cases)."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 14:12).Not every town followed the trend.."Pity Plett[enberg Bay] voters didn't think the same. Another scrappy coalition on its way."Paula, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 14:15).Late on Friday the excitement moved to the Vaal.."I'm hearing that DA could win Emfuleni (Vanderbijlpark) outright… this is mad."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 23:23).The outright win didn't come. The DA finished on 37 of 90 seats, nine short. But with the FF+ and ActionSA it has 47, enough to govern Emfuleni without the ANC, which won 22 seats..Seismic Sunday: the final tally.Before the IEC's declaration, the Tribe was already correcting the record. A viral comparison claimed the ANC had fallen from 16.1 million votes in 2016 to 8.9 million.."A viral stat doing the rounds (ANC 16.1m → 8.9m, DA 8.0m → 7.1m) adds the ward and PR ballots together, so each voter is counted twice."Stuart Lowman, BizNews General Manager (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 07:49).The number members kept returning to was council control.."The most important stat here is the number of outright controlled ANC councils – the party went into the election with 119… it exits with 53 – that's seismic."Alec Hogg, BizNews Editor (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 08:02).On Sunday night IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya declared the elections free and fair. The final figures: ANC 30.76%, DA 24.64%, MK 9.77%, EFF 6.22%, ActionSA 5.67% and IFP 4.69%. The ANC controls 53 councils outright, the DA 12, the IFP five, MK three and Rise Tsantsabane Communities one.The number of hung councils prompted one last exchange. Seán McLaughlin counted 141; Warwick made it 138.."It is 50% of seats +1."Warwick, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 20:26).The IEC's dashboard agrees with Warwick: 138 hung councils. One council is still awaiting a revote after the counting-station incident in Douglas..After the vote: who runs Joburg?.No question took up more of the Tribe's weekend. The DA won 91 of Johannesburg's 270 seats, 45 short of the 136 needed. The ANC has 63, ActionSA 43, the EFF 17 and MK 15. Early on, the arithmetic looked simple.."Interesting coalition talks coming between DA, ANC and ActionSA. DA only needs one of them."Yahya, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 06:51).It is tighter than that: together the DA and ActionSA have 134 seats, two short, so they would need a third partner such as the FF+. And the politics are harder still.."Numerically, yes. Politically, no, it will be very tough choices and none of them good."Tahnia, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 6 Nov, 07:36).On Saturday afternoon, a report doing the rounds was shared in the BizNews Elections group. TimesLive reported that ActionSA would push the DA to replace Helen Zille with Herman Mashaba as its Johannesburg mayoral candidate, with ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont saying the party had "major misgivings" about any arrangement involving Zille. Mashaba later accused the Sunday Times of misleading readers in its report on the demand. The Tribe's patience ran short.."[Herman Mashaba] has just proven, in my view, not only a lack of EQ, but also why [ActionSA] cannot be trusted."Shane, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 14:03)."Maybe [Mashaba] knew he was likely to end in 3rd place and be the king maker. Unlucky for him the ANC did so poorly he (they) need a 3rd, 4th or even a 5th party to join."Riaan, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 17:11).The sharpest exchange came in the Interactive group on Sunday night, where Zipho argued that Zille herself is the obstacle.."DA downfall is Zille."Zipho, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 8 Nov, 21:01)."34% of Joburgers want Zille, more than double the number that want Mashaba."Grant, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 8 Nov, 21:31).One detail of the seat allocation also caught members' eye. The ANC won 63 Joburg wards but no proportional-representation seats, which means only its ward winners sit on the new council. ESP's figures show the same pattern in Ekurhuleni, Mangaung and Nelson Mandela Bay.."[The] ANC have no PR seats [in Joburg]. So any contender for mayor would need to be a ward councillor."Kelly, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 8 Nov, 19:28).By Monday morning, the mood had settled on a plea to both leaders.."Helen and Herman need to both eat a big dose of humble pie."Stefano, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 9 Nov, 08:50).Coalition country: the maths beyond Joburg.Cape Town is the only metro with an outright winner: the DA holds 133 of 235 seats. Everywhere else, members got out their calculators. Warwick built a coalition explorer and worked through eThekwini, where MK's 86 seats leave it 26 short of a majority.."[DA + ANC + IFP] + [ActionSA] = 116 seats = 4 clear."Warwick, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 8 Nov, 20:12).That is the DA, ANC, IFP and ActionSA together, a bloc that would keep MK out of Durban's council. Smaller councils threw up awkward choices too. In Theewaterskloof (Caledon), the DA's 11 seats leave it three short of the 14 it needs.."Until now they were in with FF+ and GOOD but that doesn't get them the numbers any more… will have to call Gayton [McKenzie]."Seán McLaughlin, Norsira founder (Elections chat, 7 Nov, 10:38)."Rather get into bed with ANC than Gayton [McKenzie]'s lot [the Patriotic Alliance]. Better the devil you know."Alex, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 7 Nov, 10:57).Steff pointed out a third option: add the National Coloured Congress to the FF+ and GOOD, and the DA reaches exactly 14..The Tribe's verdict.By Monday the conversation had turned to what the result says about the parties themselves, and the DA did not escape scrutiny.."I struggle to fathom how the DA with all their financial muscle has grown so little compared to [ActionSA]."Niki, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 9 Nov, 06:58)."DA largely focuses on competence only. It should be focusing on competence and compassion."Simon, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 9 Nov, 07:29).One member, writing from a municipality the DA has run outright for 14 years, warned against treating a majority as a cure-all.."The streets may be clean, and the flowers pretty in the CBD, but they operate like a closed cabal. Not business friendly. Not transparent."Steff, BizNews Tribe member (Elections chat, 9 Nov, 07:53).In the Interactive group, the last word went to what voters should expect from whoever governs.."We are electing a team to SERVE us, the citizens… If they fail, they should be voted out. Simple as that."Shana, BizNews Tribe member (Interactive chat, 9 Nov, 00:52).The new councils must hold their first sittings, where mayors are elected, within 14 days of the declaration. The Tribe will be watching..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

How the BizNews Tribe reacted to LGE 2026 as it happened

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