Western Cape's 16 hung councils: how many seats each party is short

Sixteen of the Western Cape's 25 local councils ended the 2026 election hung, and in four of them a single seat is all that stands between the biggest party and a majority. The DA is the largest party in 12 of the 16, but it has to find partners everywhere to elect a mayor (Cape Town Data, from declared IEC results; Cape Argus).

The other nine councils, including Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Drakenstein and George, have DA majorities and will elect their mayors without needing a deal (Cape Town Data).

How many seats short is each party?

A party needs more than half the seats to elect a mayor on its own. In a council of 11, that means 6.

Seats as declared by the IEC on 8 November 2026, compiled by Cape Town Data. Only the three biggest parties in each council are shown, so the rest of the seats belong to smaller parties. Check any council on the IEC results dashboard.

Which councils changed hands?

Swellendam had a DA majority in 2021 and is now a four-all tie between the DA and the ANC, after the PA took 21.6% of the vote there. In Prince Albert, the PA jumped from third place to 49% of the vote and five of the 10 seats. The DA overtook the ANC as the largest party in Cederberg and Oudtshoorn (Cape Town Data).

The PA is now the third-biggest party in the province, with 91 council seats against 28 in 2021 (Cape Town Data).

Has anyone done a deal yet?

Laingsburg is the first. The PA said it will back ActionSA's mayoral candidate there (EWN), though the two parties hold 4 of the 10 seats between them, two short of a majority. Reported's Laingsburg explainer has the seat maths.

Elsewhere in the Central Karoo, the People's Movement for Change, the Karoo Democratic Force and Pik & Graaf have formed a five-councillor bloc and accused ActionSA of bad faith. ActionSA says it will keep engaging all parties and won't respond through the media (EWN).

Where the other big parties stand:

• DA provincial leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis told the Financial Mail he has "written to everyone" (Financial Mail).
• The ANC's provincial teams are holding "talks about talks", with final decisions taken by the party's national negotiating team, spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said (SABC News).
• The SACP has ruled out working with the DA and FF Plus (Cape Argus).
• PA leader Gayton McKenzie said four parties had already approached it (Cape Argus).

When must each council elect a mayor?

The law says the municipal manager must call the first council meeting within 14 days after the results are declared, and the speaker is elected first (Western Cape Government). Counting from the IEC's declaration on 8 November, that is Sunday, 22 November (Inside Politics).

CoGTA Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has said the 14 days only start once results are gazetted on 11 November, which would push the deadline into the week of 23 November (SAnews). EWN reported that Western Cape talks are racing a deadline of Wednesday, 18 November (EWN). Your municipality will publish its own notice for the first sitting.

District councils (West Coast, Cape Winelands, Overberg, Garden Route and Central Karoo) come after that, once the local councils have sent their representatives (Western Cape Government; Cape Town Data).

What happens to services while talks run?

Nothing stops. The municipal administration keeps running water, refuse and billing until the new council sits. Reported explains who runs your municipality until a mayor is elected.