South Africa elections: ANC loses control of Pretoria

The African National Congress has suffered its worst election results since it won power 22 years ago

Leader of the official opposition Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane talks to the press at the election results centre in Pretoria yesterday (AP)

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has suffered its greatest electoral blow since it won power 22 years ago, losing its grip on the local government in Tshwane, home to Pretoria the country’s capital.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party edged out the ANC in Tshwane, with 43 per cent of the vote to the ANC's 41 per cent; increasing the possibility of a coalition government.

Before this year's election, the ANC had never lost a major black-majority municipality. It has now lost two, including Nelson Mandela Bay, named after the country’s first black president and former ANC leader.

The leader of the DA, 36-year-old Mmusi Maimane, had predicted a victory in Tshwane after the municipal elections, however the party fell short of a majority in both Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay. It will need to form coalitions to take power in these areas.

The results could restructure the political landscape of South Africa where the ANC has ruled, essentially unopposed, since it ended white minority rule in 1994 led by the late Nelson Mandela.

But the party has been weakened by a number of scandals, many of which concern President Jacob Zuma, and the country's stagnant economy, which has deteriorated since the global financial crash. The World Bank says the country has one of the highest rates of inequality in the world.

With 99 per cent of the votes counted so far from Wednesday’s local elections, the ANC was leading with the most votes overall but by its lowest percentage ever.

So far the ANC has received 53 per cent of votes across the country; the Democratic Alliance 26 per cent; and the more radical opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, received eight per cent.

With 99 percent of the votes counted, the ANC was also leading in the country's largest city, Johannesburg.

"For far too long, the ANC has governed South Africa with absolute impunity," Mr Maimane told reporters on Saturday.

He added that the idea his party – which has its roots in the anti-apartheid movement and had a white party leader until last year - was a white one had been "completely shattered".

Political analysts have said the result could put pressure on Mr Zuma to leave office before his mandate ends in 2019.

The ANC has said the party will “reflect and introspect where [their] support has dropped” and would still try to form coalitions to govern the municipalities where it lost its majority. The party did retain support in many rural areas that have a black majority.

Additional reporting by agencies