Why the ANC got zero PR seats in 5 metros, and Morero lost his seat

The ANC won no proportional representation (PR) seats in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay or Mangaung. Every one of its councillors in those five metros is a ward councillor, according to Rateweb's seat tables from IEC results files.

The reason is a rule in the Municipal Structures Act sometimes called an "overhang": when a party wins more wards than its share of the vote entitles it to, it keeps the wards but gets nothing from its party list. In Johannesburg, that cost former mayor Dada Morero and former deputy mayor Loyiso Masuku their seats. Both were high on the ANC's PR list, EWN reported, and neither will return to council.

How are council seats normally shared out?

You get two ballots in a metro: one for a ward candidate and one for a party. About half the seats go to ward winners and the rest to PR councillors from party lists.

The IEC first works out how many seats in total each party deserves, using its combined ward and PR votes. It then subtracts the wards the party won. What is left is filled from the party's list, in the order the party ranked its candidates (Municipal Structures Act, Schedule 1, item 13).

For a fuller walk-through of the formula, see Reported's explainer on how council seats are worked out.

What happens when a party wins too many wards?

Item 16 of the same schedule covers "excessive seats". If the wards a party wins equal or exceed the total it is entitled to, it "must not be allocated any seats from its list of party candidates", and its ward seats are not affected (Schedule 1, item 16).

A ward seat cannot be taken away once won, eNCA's MarkData team explains, so the party ends up with more seats than its vote share alone would give it (eNCA). A party that wins more wards than its proportional entitlement gets no additional PR seats, The Citizen reported before the vote.

How big was the ANC's overhang in each metro?

Sources: ballot shares and ward and PR splits from Rateweb using IEC results files, IEC update 12 November 2026 (Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Mangaung, Nelson Mandela Bay). The middle column is Reported's rough calculation (share multiplied by council size); the IEC's exact quota formula can differ by a seat.

Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni show the biggest gaps, with the ANC holding about 8 or 9 more seats than its vote share alone would suggest. Daily Maverick also reported that the ANC got no PR seats in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Why did Morero lose his seat?

Morero's route back to council was the ANC's PR list, and with the party winning 63 wards and 0 PR seats in Johannesburg, no list candidates were elected (EWN). EWN says this ends both Morero's and Masuku's mayoral bids, and that the ANC's Joburg caucus will be made up entirely of ward councillors.

The council elects its executive mayor from among its own members, so someone who is not a councillor cannot be voted in as mayor.

Does the overhang change who can govern?

It can shift the balance slightly. Council size is fixed, so seats the ANC keeps above its share are seats other parties do not get from their lists. That is why the ANC still holds 63 seats in Johannesburg on about a fifth of the vote, more than ActionSA's 43 on 16.3% (Rateweb).

For coalition purposes, those 63 seats count the same as any others. For the seat maths in each metro, see Reported's confidence and supply explainer.

Where can you check who your councillors are?

Use the IEC results site for official seat allocations, or Reported's guide to finding your new ward councillor.