Mangaung is split 35-34. The deals that get Bloemfontein to 51 seats

One seat separates the two biggest parties in Mangaung. After a recount, the ANC has 35 of 101 seats and the DA 34, with 51 needed to run the Bloemfontein metro (Rateweb, from IEC results files).

The ANC took 33.9% of the ballots and the DA 33.5%, a gap of 1,881 ballots, according to Rateweb's combined ward and PR count. The ANC won Mangaung outright with 50.63% in 2021, News24 reported.

How many seats does each party have?

Source: Rateweb, from IEC results files, IEC update 12 November 2026. The one-seat parties are the National Service Delivery Forum, ATM, African Cultural Identity Movement, MK Party, Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats, Mangaung Seven People's Voice, AIC and ACDP.

The DA's 34th seat came from a recount in Ward 19, which flipped the ward from the ANC (SABC News; Reported on the recount). All 35 ANC seats are wards, so it got no PR seats (Reported's overhang explainer).

Which coalitions reach 51?

By Reported's calculation from the seat totals above:

Source: seat totals from Rateweb.

Without each other, both big parties need the EFF. The ANC's smallest route is the EFF, PA and ActionSA, with no seat to spare. The DA's partners on the right, the FF Plus, PA and ActionSA, leave it 4 short, and adding every one-seat party except MK still only reaches 54 if they all agree.

What have the parties said?

DA mayoral candidate Werner Pretorius said the party would weigh up, with its provincial leaders and negotiators, whether to join a coalition or stay in opposition (News24).

Free State EFF chairperson Coach Liphoko said the EFF would govern with whoever puts its "cardinal pillars" into practice (News24). An ANC leader told News24 the party would look closely at any partner because it wants stability.

At national level, one option before the ANC's national working committee was a confidence and supply deal in which the ANC would govern Mangaung and Buffalo City alone with DA backing, while the DA ran the Gauteng metros and Nelson Mandela Bay (News24; Reported's explainer). The ANC's NEC met on 12 November to set its negotiating mandate, and spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said any coalition must help municipalities deliver basic services (IOL). No decision had been announced when this was published.

When must the council sit, and why do 51 votes matter?

CoGTA says new councils must be constituted between 12 and 26 November 2026 (SA Government). At the first sitting, councillors elect a speaker and an executive mayor.

After that, a mayor with fewer than 51 seats still has to find 51 votes for the budget, rates and loans, which section 160 of the Constitution says need a majority of all council members.

Where can you check the results?

Official numbers are on the IEC results site. For the full count, see Reported's Mangaung results story, which was published before the Ward 19 recount.