In the first part of The Common Sense Special Report on the final poll before the 2026 local government election, Frans Cronje and Gabriel Makin go through the national and metro polling results. The ANC and the DA have held steady since the May 2024 election, and Frans sets out why South Africa may now be a country where no party wins an outright majority again.

Frans explains why the only coalition that works for the country as a whole is the DA and the ANC together, the party of the established middle class and the party of the aspirant middle class, respectively. He takes the results for Johannesburg, Tshwane, and eThekwini in turn, and warns that hasty deals with small parties after Wednesday’s local government election, or freezing one side out, will do lasting damage.

The pair then turn to the national mood. Only a quarter of voters say their lives have improved since the GNU was formed, support for the GNU is slipping, and yet about 70% of South Africans want the ANC and the DA to govern together. Frans shows why that common ground is the country’s most valuable asset, and what follows if moderate parties waste it.

You can watch part two here.