• 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
Year 1994Coalition Partners African National Congress (ANC) National Party (NP) Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)Duration 27 April 1994 – 3 February 1997
Year 2024Coalition Partners African 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.Duration 29 May 2024 – Current

Provincial government

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

Local government

YearCoalitions
Year 2000Coalitions 29
Year 2006Coalitions 31
Year 2011Coalitions 37
Year 2016Coalitions 27
Year 2021Coalitions 70

Municipalities governed by coalitions post-2021 elections per province

ProvinceNo. of Coalition (% of Province)
Province Eastern CapeNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 3 of 38 (8%)
Province Free StateNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 4 of 19 (21%)
Province GautengNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 8 of 10 (80%)
Province KwaZulu-NatalNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 21 of 44 (48%)
Province LimpopoNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 2 of 22 (9%)
Province MpumalangaNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 3 of 17 (18%)
Province Northern CapeNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 10 of 27 (37%)
Province North-WestNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 3 of 19 (16%)
Province Western CapeNo. of Coalition (% of Province) 16 of 24(67%)

Latest News & Analysis

Gauteng

By elections results!

3 April 2025
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

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