(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's ruling party failed to regain control of the nation's economic hub as it lost votes to a newcomer party headed by the city's former mayor.
The African National Congress's loss follows a hemorrhaging of support across the country that's set to leave the party with less than 50% of the national vote for the first time since the end of apartheid. The party obtained about 34.1% of the vote in Johannesburg, compared with 44.5% in the last local-government vote five years ago, according to results published Thursday by the electoral commission with 99% of total ballots counted.
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The official opposition Democratic Alliance obtained 25.5%, while ex-Mayor Herman Mashaba's ActionSA got 16.1%, making it the third-biggest party, commission figures showed.
Mashaba, a cosmetics mogul, founded ActionSA last year. During his tenure as mayor from 2016 to 2019, he made some progress in improving control of Johannesburg's finances and tackling corruption, but drew criticism from human-rights groups for frequent attacks on undocumented migrants.
The ANC lost control of Johannesburg -- Africa's richest city with an annual budget of 65.1 billion rand ($4.2 billion) -- at the last municipal election in 2016. It later regained power through a coalition government that it will have to negotiate again in order to govern the city.
The poor showing adds to the ANC's failure to win in four of the nation's other major urban centers -- Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay. The electoral commission will formally announce the final results of the municipal vote at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Results for metropolitan areas as of 9 a.m. local time:
| Metropolitan Area | ANC | DA | EFF | ActionSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo City | 59.5% | 19.6% | 11.95% | |
| Cape Town | 17.4% | 59.8% | 3.9% | |
| Ekurhuleni | 38.2% | 28.6% | 13.6% | 6.6% |
| Johannesburg | 34.1% | 25.5% | 10.8% | 16.1% |
| Tshwane | 33.8% | 32.8% | 10.6% | 8.6% |
| eThekwini | 41.97% | 25.7% | 10.4% | 1.9% |
| Mangaung | 50.6% | 25.7% | 11.3% | |
| Nelson Mandela Bay | 39.4% | 39.9% | 6.4% | |
| Source: Electoral Commission of South Africa | ||||
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