PA rules out the ANC in Northern Cape: 10 councils where its seats count

Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie says his party will not work with the ANC in the Northern Cape and will sit in opposition instead, according to The Citizen, which reported on a video of him addressing supporters.

That matters because the ANC is short of a majority in 18 of the province's councils, and in 10 of them the PA's seats would have been enough to get it over the line, based on provisional IEC seats (The Outlier).

What did McKenzie say?

The main dispute is over who gets the mayor's chain. McKenzie said the PA had promised its supporters it would not hand the ANC the mayorship of Dawid Kruiper (Upington), and that the ANC in the province insisted on mayoral posts in several councils (The Citizen).

"We will not be working with the ANC," he said, adding that in the Northern Cape the PA would "go into opposition" (The Citizen). McKenzie also claimed the provincial ANC had said it was willing to face fresh elections where it could not form the coalition it wanted (The Citizen).

The ANC has said all its coalition talks are now run centrally from national level (The Citizen), so the provincial stand-off may not be the last word.

Where do the PA's seats count?

The 15 hung councils below are those where the PA won at least one seat.

Seats are provisional IEC results via The Outlier, linked per council, as at 13 November 2026. The table is seat arithmetic, not a forecast.

What does the ANC do without the PA?

It has to find seats elsewhere, often from one-seat parties or independents.

In Dawid Kruiper the ANC and DA are tied on 14 seats each, with 17 needed. The PA's 4 seats would give either of them a majority, which is why the mayor's chain is the sticking point. Reported covered the Upington numbers in detail here.

In Khâi-Ma (Pofadder) and Karoo Hoogland (Sutherland), the PA holds 4 of 11 seats, making it the second-biggest party.

In Sol Plaatje (Kimberley), the PA's 5 seats were never enough on their own. The ANC's 25 plus the PA makes 30, still three short of 33.

Is Siyancuma final?

Not yet. Voting will be repeated in one voting district in Siyancuma's Ward 3, with special votes on 17 November and the revote on 18 November. Its seats will be calculated after that, so they could still change (SAnews).

When must the councils sit?

The IEC published elected councillors in the Government Gazette on 13 November. Councillors count as elected from 8 November, so first sittings, where speakers and mayors are chosen, must be called by about 22 November (SAnews).