South Africa\u2019s opposition Democratic Alliance increased its share of the vote in municipal elections yesterday, while probably failing to win control of any more major cities, according to partial results.<\/p>\n
With about 6.4 million ballots counted, the\u00a0African National Congress<\/a> had 61.7 percent of the vote, while the DA had 25.6 percent, said the\u00a0Independent Electoral Commission in Pretoria, the capital. That compares with 65.9 percent and 16.6 percent respectively in the national election in 2009.<\/p>\n 2011 Municipal Election Results in South Africa<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe ANC should be worried,\u201d Prince Mashele, executive- director for the Johannesburg-based Centre for Politics and Research, said in an interview. \u201cWe now know the DA is a permanent feature of the political landscape. This boost will set them up for the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n The ANC has won every election since 1994 with more than 60 percent of the vote as many black supporters remain loyal to the party because of its decades-long fight against apartheid. Now, rising unemployment in a country where one in four people are without jobs, and a lack of basic services such as sanitation in many townships, is beginning to weaken that support.<\/p>\n Still, the DA\u2019s share of the final vote may slip to between 20 percent and 22 percent, Mashele said. DA electoral strategist Ryan Coetzee also said the party was unlikely to win control of any major city outside\u00a0Cape Town<\/a>, which it already governs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a shift in support from black voters,\u201d Coetzee said. \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of momentum growth. It sets up a platform for future growth and for 2014,\u201d when the next parliamentary elections are held.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ANC could lose a few percentage points nationwide, party Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Pretoria today.<\/p>\n \u201cAny loss is a wake-up call for a political party,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we must remember that our traditional voter base doesn\u2019t always come in great numbers for the local elections.\u201d<\/p>\n Preliminary results showed the DA leading with 54.1 percent in Johannesburg against the ANC\u2019s 40.8 percent. The DA has garnered 80.3 percent of the votes counted in Cape Town, while the ANC has 15.4 percent. In the capital\u00a0Pretoria<\/a>, the ANC extended its lead, with 54.6 percent of the current count and the DA with 40.5 percent. In Nelson Mandela Bay, which runs the city ofPort Elizabeth<\/a>, the ANC won 51 percent, while the DA was second at 41.6 percent.<\/p>\n The DA\u2019s share of the ballot in many of these cities will decline as more votes are counted, Coetzee said.<\/p>\n The decline in the ANC\u2019s support may \u201csharpen leadership battles\u201d within Africa\u2019s oldest political movement, Ebrahim Fakir, an analyst with the Centre for Policy Studies, said in an interview in Pretoria. \u201cThey could also become more populist as they seek to attract discontented voters.\u201d<\/p>\n The ANC Youth League has been campaigning for the nationalization of South\u00a0Africa<\/a>\u2019s mines, banks and land, arguing that the country\u2019s assets should benefit the population more directly.<\/p>\n A May 16 survey by polling company Ipsos Markinor showed the ANC\u2019s support may drop to 59 percent from 66 percent in 2009. The poll of 2,050 likely voters gave the DA 19 percent.<\/p>\n President\u00a0Jacob Zuma<\/a> has highlighted the ANC\u2019s role in bringing about democracy and its achievements since taking power, including building 2.7 million homes for the poor and giving 6 million households access to clean water.<\/p>\n \u201cThis vote was fought for and people paid a supreme sacrifice,\u201d Zuma said after casting his ballot in his home village of Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.<\/p>\n Africa\u2019s biggest economy shed 14,000 jobs in the first quarter, pushing the\u00a0unemployment rate<\/a>to 25 percent, the highest of 61 countries tracked by Bloomberg. South Africa had a record 111 protests against a lack of basic services such as water and housing last year, according to Johannesburg-based Municipal IQ, an independent local government research group.<\/p>\n \u201cI voted for change,\u201d Lebogang Mohlue, 18, a student, said yesterday after voting for the DA in Johannesburg\u2019s Brixton area. \u201cI want to have a job when I finish my studies so I voted for a party that can help create jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n The rand has declined 4.4 percent against the dollar this year, while the benchmark FTSE\/JSE Africa All Share Index has fallen 0.9 percent. The currency slid 0.2 percent to 6.932 by 10:42 a.m. in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n The ANC won outright control of 200 of South Africa\u2019s 283 municipalities in 2006, while the DA won 7 and formed ruling coalitions in 11 others. Last year, the Independent Democrats, which won 0.9 of the national vote in 2009\u2019s parliamentary elections, agreed to disband and merge with the DA.<\/p>\n To contact the reporters on this story:\u00a0Franz Wild<\/a> in Johannesburg at\u00a0fwild@bloomberg.net<\/a>; Mike Cohen in Cape Town at\u00a0mcohen21@bloomberg.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n2011 Municipal Election Results in South Africa<\/h1>\n
\u2018Wake-Up Call\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Leadership Battles\u2019<\/h2>\n
Unemployment<\/h2>\n