• Coalitions
    Tracker
  • Coalitions Tracker

ACCORD Coalitions Tracker

Providing centralised information about the latest developments from South Africa's local government coalitions​

Click on municipalities on the map to view

Overview of Coalitions in South Africa

What is a coalition government?

A coalition government exists when:

  • no single party has a majority of the seats in the legislature or council (i.e. 50 (+1)%).
  • 2 or more political parties (or independent representatives) combine their votes in a legislature or a council, to elect a government, and to support the decisions it takes.

In local government, a governing coalition is aimed at electing an (executive) mayor, and other members of the executive, and then supporting their proposals on, for example, the budget and municipal policies.

History of coalitions in South Africa

  • There have been coalitions since 1994. The first democratic national government after the 1994 elections was a broad-based coalition – a Government of National Unity.
  • There have also been coalitions at a provincial level in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and there have been coalitions in municipalities, ever since the first democratic local government elections in 2000.
  • Coalitions have become a major talking point in the country since the 2016 and 2021 local government elections, when an increasing number of municipalities, including our biggest cities, had so-called ‘hung councils’, i.e. no single party won a majority of the court 

National government

YearCoalition PartnersDuration
1994African National Congress (ANC) National Party (NP) Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)27 April 1994 – 3 February 1997
2024African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), GOOD, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), Vryheidsfront Plus (FF+), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Rise Mzansi and Al Jama-ah.29 May 2024 – Current

Provincial government

YearCoalition PartnersDurationProvince
1999African National Congress (ANC) New National Party (NNP), Democratic Party (DP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)1999/2000Western Cape
1999African National Congress (ANC) National Party (NP) Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)Electoral cycleKwaZulu-Natal
2000African National Congress (ANC) - New National Party (NNP),2000-2004Western Cape
2004ANC obtained 38/80 = 46.98%2004 – 2006KwaZulu-Natal
2024African National Congress (ANC), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Rise Mzansi and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).29 May 2024 – CurrentGauteng
2024Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), National Freedom Party (NFP)29 May 2024 – CurrentKwaZulu-Natal
2024African National Congress (ANC), Vryheidsfront Plus (FF+) and Patriotic Alliance (PA)29 May 2024 – CurrentNorthern Cape

Local government

YearCoalitions
200029
200631
201137
201627
202170

Municipalities governed by coalitions post-2021 elections per province

ProvinceNo. of Coalition (% of Province)
Eastern Cape3 of 38 (8%)
Free State4 of 19 (21%)
Gauteng8 of 10 (80%)
KwaZulu-Natal21 of 44 (48%)
Limpopo2 of 22 (9%)
Mpumalanga3 of 17 (18%)
Northern Cape10 of 27 (37%)
North-West3 of 19 (16%)
Western Cape16 of 24(67%)

Latest News & Analysis

Gauteng

Municipal by-elections in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo

17 February 2025
Western Cape

Knysna Mayor removed from office

17 February 2025
Northern Cape

ANC takes control of !KHEI local municipality

30 January 2025
Northern Cape

ANC wins another hung municipality in the Northern Cape

30 January 2025
Northern Cape

ANC takes outright control of Karoo Hoogland municipality

22 January 2025
Limpopo

Thabazimbi s status remains unchanged following by-elections

22 January 2025

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