Johannesburg Election Results Signal Shift in City Services

The count in Johannesburg’s municipal election is still underway, but the numbers already being claimed point to a possible reshaping of who runs the infrastructure and services on which South Africa’s economy depends. ActionSA, a party founded only six years ago by businessman and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, says it has won 54 of the 354 wards across Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane and Ekurhuleni following Wednesday’s vote on November 4. The figure remains provisional while counting continues and has not yet been confirmed by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

The stakes are practical as much as political. These three metros anchor the country’s economy. Johannesburg is its financial hub. Tshwane, which encompasses Pretoria, is the administrative capital, and Ekurhuleni is a major industrial and manufacturing center. Whoever governs them inherits the delivery record of the outgoing administrations, and that record is under scrutiny.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC) are leading the overall charge as results trickle in, but ActionSA is claiming victories in wards previously held by established parties. Unlike seats allocated through proportional representation, ward seats are won directly by candidates in individual constituencies. That makes them a direct test of local service delivery and voter satisfaction on the ground.

Political analyst Howard Sackstein reads the gains as evidence of mounting dissatisfaction with the ANC, particularly among township voters who have not seen opposition parties such as the DA as an acceptable alternative. “Voters wanted to punish the ANC, and they were looking for alternatives,” he tells FORBES AFRICA. He points to the Johannesburg townships of Soweto and Alexandra, where he says the DA has struggled to attract voters unhappy with the ruling party, and argues that ActionSA has offered these voters a black-led, more conservative option.

Economist Michael Kransdorff, founder of the Institute for International Tax and Finance, welcomes the party’s advances, citing its pro-business policies and Mashaba’s experience as an entrepreneur. But he cautions that Johannesburg needs more than a change in political leadership. “Business confidence will ultimately depend not on who wins the election, but on whether the new administration can actually deliver,” he says to FORBES AFRICA.

The scale of the delivery challenge is documented in a letter sent in April by South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, to the Mayor of Johannesburg, Dada Morero. In the 2024/25 financial year, the city owed creditors R25.2 billion, approximately $1.53 billion, while holding just R3.9 billion, roughly $237 million, in cash and cash equivalents.

Kransdorff argues that closing that gap requires better financial management, competent officials, improved revenue collection and urgent infrastructure repairs. Private investment, he adds, will also be essential, because the municipality cannot afford to rebuild everything itself. To illustrate the cost of unreliable services, he offers the example of a hypothetical Johannesburg restaurant that pays municipal rates and service charges yet must also buy generators, diesel and water tanks because electricity and water supplies are unreliable. “In effect, businesses are paying twice for essential services, once to the municipality and again to provide those services themselves.”

Meanwhile, how any new administration performs will depend heavily on coalition partnerships. ActionSA already has governing experience in Tshwane, where its mayor, Nasiphi Moya, leads a multiparty administration. Sackstein questions that administrative record, while Kransdorff warns that political instability can discourage investment and delay improvements to services and infrastructure.

For the businesses and residents who depend on these metros, the open question is whether the incoming coalitions can convert electoral gains into functioning municipalities. “Johannesburg does not lack entrepreneurial talent, investment opportunities or economic potential. What it lacks is a functioning municipality. Fix that, and business will do the rest,” concludes Kransdorff.