The African National Congress (ANC) won 42.0% of the vote in Buffalo City in South Africa’s 2026 local government elections, according to results from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), followed by the United Democratic Movement (UDM) on 18.3% and the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 16.9%.

Buffalo City is the first of the eight metros to have its results finalised.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won 6.8%. The South African Communist Party (SACP), which was standing in its first municipal election, won 4.5%.

The chart below compares the 2026 results to the 2011, 2016, and 2021 results in the metro.

The UDM made the largest gain of any party in Buffalo City. It climbed from 0.6% of the vote in 2011, grew to 0.9% in 2016, and to 1.0% in 2021, so its 18.3% this year is 17.3 percentage points higher than five years ago. It also puts the UDM ahead of the DA, which came second in each of the three previous local elections in the metro, with 20.5% in 2011, 23.4% in 2016, and 19.5% in 2021.

The ANC’s 42.0% is 17.4 percentage points lower than its 59.4% in 2021, and its lowest share of the vote in Buffalo City in its history.

The UDM has also won ward seats, which it did not do in Buffalo City in 2021. Of the 49 wards declared, it won three, against 38 for the ANC, six for the DA, and one each for the EFF and the SACP. The remaining ward was tied, with the DA and EFF each winning 1 714 votes on the ward ballot there. The winner will now be determined by lot (in South Africa, this is usually a coin toss).

In 2021, the ANC won 43 of the city’s 50 wards and the DA won the other seven.

The first map below shows the party that won each ward in 2021.

The second shows the ward winners in 2026.