Final results 2021 elections

Photo by Gallo Images / Phill Magakoe

FINAL RESULTS: Who are the big winners – and losers – of the 2021 Elections?

It’s been a wild ride, and the final results of the 2021 Local Elections have possibly altered South Africa’s political landscape for good.

Final results 2021 elections

Photo by Gallo Images / Phill Magakoe

That’s it. The final results have been released, bringing our 2021 Elections to an official close. All that’s left to do now is for the political heavyweights to hammer out their coalition agreements, and we’ll know exactly who is governing – and where. However, it’s already quite clear who the winners and the losers are this year…

FINAL RESULTS for the 2021 Elections:

Top of the league

How often can you say that none of the top three parties will be all that happy with their election results? The biggest winners of the municipal vote are actually some of the smallest political forces on the map. You’ve got to look at how the FF Plus took wards in the Western Cape for the first time, and saw its support base grow in several provinces.

The IFP, now in full control of 10 municipalities, absolutely chowed through the dwindling ANC vote in KwaZulu-Natal, and they saw their share of the vote in the province soar past 24% – a performance that stands them in good stead for the 2024 General Election.

The name on everyone’s lips, however, has been ActionSA. They have claimed a large chunk of the vote in Johannesburg, and also made a wider impact in both Gauteng and KwaDukuza. Considering this was a debut election for Herman Mashaba’s party, the exposure they have received has been massive.

The Patriotic Alliance have also positioned themselves as potential kingmakers in a handful of municipalities, and may yet influence the formation of a coalition in a few metros. For these guys, it’s a tip of the cap.

Mid-table finish

This was a really mediocre run-out for the EFF, who perhaps didn’t deliver the fireworks they were hoping to. Although they’ve improved from the last local elections, they are down on their 2019 performance. Given their public profile, the party will be disappointed that they haven’t claimed control of a municipality this time out.

GOOD also seemed to misfire a little, without having a disastrous time of things. There were a few strong showings across the Cape, but Patricia de Lille’s party struggled to make an impact like fellow new parties ActionSA and Patriotic Alliance did. A 0.37% share of the vote suggests that these upstarts must do better next time out.

The DA also failed to pull up any trees… but perhaps this wasn’t as bad of a car crash as first feared. Some pre-election opinion polls put the Blues below 20%, but they finished with 21.84% of the vote – outperforming themselves from 2019, but falling short of the standards they set in 2016.

They won their first-ever municipality in KZN, and look set to control multiple metros once coalition talks have concluded. There were plenty of ups and downs for the DA, but arguably, they outperformed the biggest fish of the lot…

The relegation zone

Who else could it be? This election will forever be known as the one where the tide turned against the ANC. Gatvol voters rejected the ruling party at the ballot boxes, and they only just scrapped 46% of the national vote.

Metro dwellers, young citizens, and South Africans in ANC strongholds opted against the 109-year-old institution, and they are now facing a crisis that could possibly dwarf the likes of load shedding and state capture. This is the first time the ANC has been punished – properly, properly punished – by the electorate. And they’re now in dangerous waters.

You can see ALL the final results for the 2021 Elections here