The Democratic Alliance has moved straight from counting votes to counting taps, streets and budgets. Within hours of the local government election results, the party committed itself to building governing coalitions that can actually deliver water, safety and services in the towns and cities it now leads or helps to run.
With results still coming in, the DA leadership says attention must shift to coalition negotiations, and it has already begun reaching out to every other party to discuss forming stable governments. The task, as the party frames it, is not the arithmetic of power but the practical work of getting municipalities functioning for everyone who lives in them.
These municipalities, the DA argues, desperately need long, sustained progress under inclusive, capable and honest leadership. Any coalition it leads must focus on getting water into people’s taps, delivering reliable services, making streets safer and creating an environment in which businesses can grow and create jobs. That delivery agenda sits at the centre of the principles the party will take into negotiations: integrity in local government, stable government, zero tolerance for corruption, merit-based appointments, sound financial management and measurable improvements in basic services for all residents. The party insists these principles must apply equally to itself and to every partner in a government it leads.
The scale of the mandate is now largely clear. The DA will be the only party to govern a metro with an outright majority, after what it describes as a resounding endorsement in Cape Town that exceeded its expectations. In four other metros, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay, it will be the largest party, meaning coalition-building will determine who actually runs most of the country’s biggest urban administrations. Beyond the metros, the party has won in cities and deep rural areas, from Mount Ayliff to Fort Beaufort, Emfuleni and uMngeni, and it will gain 104 new wards and roughly 233 new councillors across the country.
Those numbers matter for delivery as much as for representation. Each new ward and councillor is another point of presence in municipalities where basic services have often faltered. The party says the results reflect a growing, stronger DA now deeply embedded in every single community in the country. It also points to the composition of its support: roughly one million black South Africans voted for the DA on Wednesday, according to the party, making it what it calls a mainstream party in every community, whether black, white, coloured or Indian. It recorded its highest-ever support in Cape Town’s townships, with similar record support in townships across the country, especially where it governs. In the DA’s reading, voters can see the effort it makes to govern well for everyone, and it attributes its performance to that record in office rather than to campaigning alone.
The leadership has struck a tone of urgency. Now that the campaign is done, leaders must lift their sights, put aside their differences and prioritise the people of South Africa, the party said, adding that it is ready and eager to get started and will work hard over the coming weeks to build governments that get the country’s cities and towns working for all. It undertakes to approach discussions with respect for the mandate each party has received, and it has issued an open invitation to every party willing to put residents first to join it around a shared programme of good government.
There are ground rules for the talks. The DA says it does not intend to negotiate through the media, but it commits to publishing all of its coalition agreements publicly once concluded, on the principle that every agreement reached must be an agreement to serve residents. That transparency pledge is framed as part of the same accountability standard it wants applied to service delivery itself.
Meanwhile, the election carries meaning for the contests still to come. The party has restated its ambition to become the largest party in South Africa, which it calls the best guarantor of putting the country on a path to greater prosperity for all, and it says these elections represent a big step towards that goal. Preparations begin now, it says, through connecting with more South Africans, responding to their concerns and showing through its work in government that the DA improves their lives.
For residents of the metros and towns now awaiting new administrations, the measure of the coming negotiations will be practical: whether the parties involved can convert mandates into stable governments capable of sustained delivery. The DA says it is ready to do its part, and that South Africa can work for everyone.