France, Nov. 9 -- With no party winning outright in many municipalities, the results set the stage for fraught multiparty coalition negotiations to govern several major South African cities.

South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) was dealt a stinging blow, results showed on Sunday, weakening its hand in coalition talks that will follow to form city governments. While the ANC ended up with 30.76 percent of the vote, its main rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), received 24.64 percent.

The liberal party is also the ANC main partner in the current national unity government.

Voter turnout stood at 52 percent, up six percentage points from the Covid-hit 2021 municipal elections, said Electoral Commission of South Africa chairperson ...