DA and ANC voters in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni would rather not govern together, poll finds three days before local elections

South African voters go to the polls on Wednesday with coalition preferences that differ sharply from one metro to the next, and in several cities the voters of the two biggest parties reject the partnership that would be easiest to assemble, according to an eNCA Markdata survey.

The poll was conducted between August and September 2026 across six metros, with more than 1,000 respondents interviewed in each and a margin of error of three percentage points. Some metros were surveyed by telephone and others face to face. eNCA set out the coalition findings in the fourth and final broadcast of its elections programme, The Voting Booth, on Sunday, three days before the local government elections (source).

In Johannesburg, the DA led the survey on 35%, with the ANC on 21.8%, the MK Party on 12.5%, the EFF on 11.9% and ActionSA on 10.3%. Five parties sit above 10%. Among ANC supporters there, 29.1% would accept a coalition with the DA and 31.9% would reject one. Among DA supporters, 10.8% would accept the ANC and 62% would reject it. ActionSA is the partner both sides tolerate most easily: 19.7% of ANC supporters would work with it against 8.6% who would not, and 32.5% of DA supporters would work with it against 5.1% who would not.

In Ekurhuleni the DA led on 31.2% and the ANC on 29.4%, with the MK Party on 11.5% and the EFF on 9.2%. Among ANC supporters, 29.3% would accept the DA and 30.8% would reject it. Among DA supporters, 11.9% would accept the ANC and almost 60% would reject it. ActionSA again draws acceptance from both, with 20.9% of ANC supporters in favour and 6.1% against, and 18.5% of DA supporters in favour and 5.2% against. The EFF fares badly with ANC supporters in Ekurhuleni, where 13.1% would accept it and 44% would reject it, after the breakdown of the ANC-EFF coalition in that city.

In eThekwini the MK Party is close to an outright win on 48%, with the DA on 25.2%, the ANC on 14.5%, the IFP on 6% and the EFF on 2.5%. Among MK Party supporters, 30.7% would work with the IFP and 9.5% would not, while 31% want the party to win outright. The ANC is rejected by 60% of MK Party supporters. Among ANC supporters in eThekwini, 39% would like to see the party work with the MK Party.

In Nelson Mandela Bay the DA and the ANC are effectively tied, on 37.7% and 37.4%. Among ANC supporters there, 29.7% would accept the EFF and 24.2% would reject it, while 27% would accept the DA and 38.4% would reject it. Among DA supporters, 68.3% reject a coalition with the ANC. Among EFF supporters, 24.4% would accept the DA and 32.2% would reject it, and 44.9% reject the ANC.

In Cape Town the DA retains an outright majority in the survey on 52.6%, with the ANC on 23.6%, the EFF on 6.5% and the Patriotic Alliance on 4.9%. Among DA supporters, 18.9% would work with the Patriotic Alliance and 6.6% would not. Among Patriotic Alliance supporters, more than 40% would work with the DA and 31% would not, while fewer than 1% would work with the EFF and 68% reject the ANC.

In Tshwane the DA leads on 33.9%, the ANC on 24.9%, the EFF on 11.3%, ActionSA on 10.7% and the Freedom Front Plus on 7.9%. Among ANC supporters, 22.4% would accept the DA and 34.5% would reject it. Among DA supporters, 14.2% would accept the ANC and 65.8% would reject it. Among ActionSA supporters in Tshwane, 36.3% would accept the DA and 64.4% would reject it.

The survey asked supporters what they would prefer rather than predicting the outcome, and the numbers cannot be added together to forecast a coalition. The programme’s elections analyst, Wayne Sussman, and the founder of the Groundwork Collective, Bali Nuli, both stressed that voters were thinking strategically and that the results vary by city.

Nuli said the leaders will have to explain their choices to voters who have watched the campaign. “Are the DA and the ANC, for example, in this particular metro going to go together and say, look, this is the easiest,” she said, and then have to explain to voters who do not want it why they did it after blaming each other for bad governance.

She said ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba has said the party is open to working with the DA but not with Helen Zille in the mayoral seat, and that the Patriotic Alliance’s Gayton McKenzie has said the same. Mashaba, she said, has indicated he will look at the poll after the elections, and Zille has said this week that she is not excluding anyone from talks.

The IEC results and the negotiations that follow will show how far the voters’ preferences bind the parties. eNCA said it will compare the survey with the actual results through the week.