DA keeps mayoral options open as coalition talks loom

Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni are municipalities where the DA has emerged as the largest party. That gives it a strong claim to seek the mayoral positions, although being the largest party does not automatically guarantee control of the council.

The key mechanism is coalition bargaining. If no party holds enough seats to govern alone, parties must agree on who will lead the municipality and how power will be shared. The DA has previously supported proportional arrangements in municipalities governed with the ANC, but Geordin Hill-Lewis would not confirm whether that remains its firm negotiating demand.

The outcome depends on talks still to come. Hill-Lewis said revealing the DA’s position too early could weaken it at the negotiating table. He said the DA would put residents first and seek stable, corruption-free governments, while the ANC must decide nationally how it will approach possible agreements.

When 76% of the votes had been counted, the ANC stood at 31.88% nationally. The DA followed with 24.27%, while uMkhonto weSizwe had 9.26%. These figures show the ANC still leading, but with a much narrower gap over the DA than the party had traditionally enjoyed.

The comparison matters because the DA’s result strengthens its position in coalition discussions. It also helps explain Hill-Lewis’s description of the result as extraordinary. He said he would have struggled to believe, a few years earlier, that the DA could come within a handful of percentage points of the ANC.

These were interim figures, not necessarily the final national result. They were reported while counting was still under way. Even so, they pointed to a major shift in South African politics, after more than three decades of ANC dominance, and increased the importance of negotiations in municipalities without clear majorities.

A coalition government is formed when parties combine their council seats and support one administration. A hung municipality is one where no party has more than half the seats. The central issue is simple: a party may be the largest, but it still cannot pass decisions or reliably govern alone.

For example, the DA might be the largest party in a municipality but still need the ANC or smaller parties to reach a working majority. The parties then negotiate an agreement covering support, policies and government positions. The article says the DA has previously advocated proportional power-sharing with the ANC, linking positions to the number of seats each party contributes.

This makes coalition talks decisive. Hill-Lewis said the DA would not reveal all its guidelines before negotiations because that could weaken its position. The ANC also has competing views about possible partners, so its national leadership must provide direction before talks begin.

If parties cannot agree, a municipality may struggle to form a governing administration. Without dependable support, it can be difficult to elect or sustain a mayor, approve decisions and manage the council’s work. A hung council can therefore become unstable even when one party is clearly the largest.

The mechanism is the council vote. Parties need enough combined seats to support leadership and major decisions. If negotiations repeatedly fail, rival groups may block one another, produce shifting alliances or leave the administration unable to act consistently. These are general features of coalition government; the article does not give a specific legal consequence for failed talks.

The political concern in this case is stability. Some ANC members believe a two-party coalition with the DA would be more stable than an arrangement involving several partners. Hill-Lewis said the DA wants stable, corruption-free government, while the ANC’s national leadership must guide its negotiating approach.

Proportional power-sharing means distributing government positions according to the number of seats each party contributes to a governing coalition. It is designed to make political influence reflect electoral support inside the council. The DA has previously advocated this approach in municipalities governed through coalitions with the ANC.

The mechanism is a seat-based allocation. If one party contributes more council seats, it would receive more positions; a smaller coalition partner would receive fewer. The article does not list a specific formula or identify which offices would go to each party. Hill-Lewis described the principle as making seats in government proportionate to the seats brought to government.

The proposal remains politically important but not fully settled. Hill-Lewis said proportionality was still the DA’s view, yet declined to commit to it as a fixed negotiating position. He argued that doing so before coalition talks could reveal the DA’s guidelines to potential partners.

A two-party coalition may be easier to coordinate because only two organisations must agree on leadership, policies and government positions. By contrast, a coalition with several smaller parties creates more negotiating relationships and more chances for disagreement. The article presents stability as the main reason some ANC members favour the DA option.

In a two-party arrangement, the ANC and DA could negotiate directly over how the municipality is governed. They would still need to maintain enough shared support for decisions. With multiple partners, each smaller party could seek its own concessions, and losing one partner might threaten the coalition. These are general coalition dynamics; the article does not provide a detailed agreement or seat breakdown.

The preference is not shared by everyone in the ANC. Some members in the Free State and Gauteng oppose working with the DA, while Johannesburg’s regional secretary said the DA would be the last party they engaged. National leadership must resolve these competing positions.

In a hung municipality, no party controls more than half the council seats. The council therefore normally elects a mayor by voting, with parties combining their support behind a candidate. The governing group must also build enough support for council decisions, rather than relying on its largest-party status alone.

The key mechanism is negotiation. Parties can form a coalition, share government positions and agree on policies or voting arrangements. A party may support another party’s mayor in exchange for influence or positions. Proportional power-sharing, which the DA has advocated, would link those positions to the seats each party brings. The article does not describe a specific council’s voting rules or agreement.

This general process explains why the municipalities named in the article are heading into important talks. The DA may seek mayoralties where it is largest, while the ANC must decide whether to work with it or several smaller parties. Hill-Lewis said the DA’s priority is stable, corruption-free government.