ANC Fails to Regain Control of South Africa’s Richest City
- Newcomer ActionSA becomes Johannesburg’s third-biggest party
- Four other major urban centers to be governed by coalitions
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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.