LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: DA aims for metro dominance — but what do voters think?

Ask any mayoral candidate who will win the metros they are running in, and they’ll confidently declare that they’re the only hope. But the party that has appeared most confident of leading some of the most contested metros is the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The DA has long been clear that it wants to win majorities or be the biggest party in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay to form favourable coalitions. 

South Africa’s eight metros account for almost 40% of voters, and while trying to boost its support in urban areas, the DA is also looking to the 2029 national elections.

“This is a two-horse race for first place in South Africa – the ANC or the DA. And we are going for first place, because we know that is what’s needed to fix our country,” DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis told supporters at the party’s final campaign rally on Saturday, 31 October. 

That confidence carried throughout the party’s campaign, which started far earlier than its rivals and garnered more attention, to election day. 

Speaking to Daily Maverick outside Laspossié Kleuterskool in Ward 85, the DA’s Tshwane mayoral candidate, Cilliers Brink, said the party had “a higher number of canvassed DA voters in Tshwane at this election than we’ve ever had at any election, including general elections”.

Brink acknowledged that this did not guarantee victory, but said it gave the party a significant logistical advantage. “We are going for a majority. We’re not going for arrangements,” he added.

After casting her vote at Emmarentia Primary School, DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille pointed to the party’s performance record, challenging critics to compare basic services in DA-run areas with the rest of the country.

“I’d like you to go and check where the DA governs and look at the services that local government is supposed to provide: water, electricity, roads and potholes, traffic lights, streetlights, refuse removal. Go and take a list and tick them off. You’ll see that there are more services in Khayelitsha than in Sandton,” she said.

The DA led the ANC in five of six Johannesburg polls conducted between mid-June and mid-October. In three of those polls, it reached at least 35% and led the ANC by 13 percentage points or more.

But what did voters say on 4 November?

Tshwane: a mixed bag

At Voting Station 56, near the University of Pretoria, a middle-aged voter who identified himself only as Carl said the DA’s pre-election campaigning had put him off the party.

“I think the DA is a lot of talk. Their actions don’t show what they’re campaigning for, and that’s why I’m moving away from them,” said Carl.

Standing in a fast-moving queue to cast his vote, he said South African politicians seemed out of touch with the realities facing ordinary citizens.

“There’s a significant divide between the political elite, engaged in their own battles, alliances and complications, and the everyday voter,” he said.

Outside the same voting station, University of Pretoria student Unati Njenga said voting for the DA would be voting against his best interests.

He referred to a Public Protector investigation into the DA-run City of Cape Town, which found that the City had failed to provide basic municipal services to residents of Langa Flats and parts of Khayelitsha. The report found deteriorating sewer infrastructure, poor refuse collection, water leaks and inadequate lighting, and concluded that the City’s conduct amounted to maladministration and improper conduct.

“So I think it’s a bit scary to imagine what the future could look like under them,” Njenga said, citing concerns about segregation and rising housing costs in Cape Town.

Karen Anderson, a resident of Montana in Pretoria, said she was voting for the DA.

“If you just look at the problems in Johannesburg, absolutely no one would be voting for the ANC. We residents worry about service delivery, clean water and electricity, and if you look at the DA’s track record, they’ve delivered,” she said.

Anderson expressed optimism about Brink’s leadership prospects in Tshwane, noting that voters viewed him as a practical, experienced alternative to the governing coalition – particularly on core issues such as water, electricity, crime, corruption and municipal stability.

Anderson referred to the Hammanskraal water crisis, a long-running problem involving sewage contamination, ageing infrastructure and unreliable water supply north of Pretoria. The crisis has involved failures at the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works and was linked to a deadly cholera outbreak in 2023.

“If you look at Hammanskraal and how often they have had to fight for clean water, you see that every time the DA is in power they start fixing it or laying the foundations to fix it, but then they leave again, and the whole issue starts again,” she said.

Joburg: Frustration with the ANC

The DA spent considerable time and resources campaigning for new voters in Johannesburg, with Zille regularly in Soweto, a key constituency in the party’s efforts to garner the 490,000 votes needed to win a majority in the City. 

In Orlando, Ward 39, where about 10 cars were torched in anti-foreigner attacks in October, Mandla Nyaqela told Daily Maverick that the current administration doesn’t take residents seriously. Nyaqela is a DA councillor candidate in the traditionally ANC ward.

“Only Gogo Helen Zille can deliver for Johannesburg because she has all the attributes of a great leader,” said Nyaqela at Dobsonville on voting day.

“The ANC is going straight to the museum,” he added. “We vote for them, but nothing is improving.”

Lydia Msibi (75), a resident of Alexandra, said she is frustrated with the area’s current leadership.

“We’ve got too many problems in Alex, and the government isn’t serving them,” she said.

Standing near the voting tents, she gestured to sewage spilling down the street in front of her. “When they fix it, after three days it will start leaking again,” she said. “So there’s clearly something wrong with the maintenance.”

Msibi was hopeful that the DA would win the election and bring change to the community. “I know that Magogo is going to do the best,” she said, referring to Zille.

Ekurhuleni: Switching support

While many voters expressed deep disillusionment with the ANC, that did not necessarily translate into DA support, with voters either looking to the plethora of smaller parties or choosing to stay home and not vote.

For Tembisa resident Ernest Simangwe (44), this election marked a break with his longstanding support for the ANC. 

“They are playing with us. I would abstain from voting, but I want to vote to weaken the ANC’s support. They have failed us for 32 years,” Simangwe said, adding that this would be the first time he voted for a different party.

Simangwe cast his ballot for the SA Communist Party (SACP). He said he was “sick and tired” of the ANC making promises it failed to fulfil.

“I’ve been voting for the ANC all these years, but now I’m changing my decision. I’m not turning my back because I hate the party; I’m just disappointed in its actions,” he said.

“I’ve been unemployed for many years, hoping this party would help and create work opportunities for some of us. And it’s not that we do not go out there to look for jobs. We do not get anything, and others benefit because of political connections,” he said.

Simangwe added that he was sceptical that the elections would lead to better service delivery.

“Yes, we are here to vote, but we don’t think there’ll be change in service delivery. Our fellow black people have failed us,” he said.

Nelson Mandela Bay: Loyalty at the polls

Senior citizen and ANC supporter Irene Krokrani (94), who voted at Zandile Pre-School in Ward 30, Gqeberha, said she would vote for the party that “brought freedom” to her family and secured a future for her grandchildren.

“I cannot be changing parties at such an old age, so voting for the ANC is not even a question,” said Krokrani.

“We are voting so that the ANC remains in government for another term, but this time without the other parties that are causing problems,” she said. “If the ANC can govern by itself, residents will see improvement in their communities.”

Krokrani acknowledged that the party had shortcomings, but said these should be addressed from within rather than by replacing it with other parties.

“The ANC has not been perfect because it is run by humans, who are naturally imperfect,” she said. “If we can clean the house and focus on serving the people without distraction from other parties, then things will improve for the better.”

Across Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay, all currently led by ANC coalitions, the DA has consistently been ranked as the leading party in most polls. But the party’s potential rise will, in large part, depend on how far the ANC falls and to what extent voters back smaller parties. 

As the results trickle in, those numbers will determine whether the DA’s high-profile campaign translates into higher support and a potential leading position in negotiating coalitions. DM