Ramaphosa, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma All Voted in Wards Won by Opposition Parties

• President Cyril Ramaphosa won in Johannesburg Ward 90, where the DA candidate secured nearly 80% of the ward ballot
• Jacob Zuma's Nkandla ward was retained by the IFP by just 30 votes over the MKP in the 4 November 2026 elections
• The ANC failed to field a candidate in Nelson Mandela's home ward of Qunu for the first time since 1996

JOHANNESBURG — Every living former South African president, as well as the sitting head of state, cast their ballots in municipal wards that opposition parties went on to win in the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections, the Mail & Guardian reported on 13 November 2026.

Official results from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) confirm the outcomes in each ward, adding a symbolic dimension to what was already a bruising night for the African National Congress.

Ramaphosa and former presidents in DA-held wards

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President Cyril Ramaphosa and First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe voted at Hyde Park High School in Johannesburg, in Ward 90, which covers Hyde Park, Parkmore and surrounding suburbs. DA councillor Renate Jo van Onselen won the ward with 8,685 votes, representing 79.4% of the 10,939 valid ward-ballot votes cast. The ANC's candidate finished fourth, with just 506 votes, or 4.6%.

The Mail & Guardian noted that Ramaphosa had previously voted at Hitekani Primary School in Ward 11 in Chiawelo, Soweto — a ward the ANC held in this election with 35.2% of the vote.

Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe both voted at Killarney Country Club in Johannesburg, a voting station in Ward 73. SABC News reported their presence at the station, and the Mail & Guardian confirmed that both men reside in the ward, which also includes Houghton and Norwood. DA candidate Dominic Günther Bauer won the ward with 5,850 votes, or 60.9% of 9,612 valid ward-ballot votes. The ANC received 880 votes, or 9.2%.

IFP holds Zuma's Nkandla ward by narrow margin

Former president Jacob Zuma, now leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), voted at Ntolwane Primary School in Nkandla Ward 14. Despite the MKP leading at that specific voting station, the IFP retained the ward overall. IFP candidate Sibongakonke Mkhuliseni Magwaza received 1,112 votes (45.5%) against the MKP's Menzi Zuma on 1,082 (44.2%), a margin of just 30 votes across all seven voting districts. The ANC finished third with 223 votes.

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The IFP won 11 of Nkandla's 14 wards and secured 14 of the council's 27 seats, giving it an outright majority. KwaZulu-Natal IFP leader Thami Ntuli welcomed the result, while the MKP urged its incoming councillors to focus on service delivery.

View a video on X of Zuma voting:

ANC absent in Mandela's Qunu ward

In Qunu, the Eastern Cape village where the late former president Nelson Mandela is buried, the ANC did not contest Ward 19 — reportedly the first time the party had not fielded a candidate there since the inaugural municipal elections in 1996. African Transformation Movement (ATM) candidate Sabelo Ngqeleni won the seat with 531 votes, or 28.9% of the ward ballot.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal convenor Mike Mabuyakhulu described the party's provincial performance as mixed, acknowledging losses in wards and municipalities it had not anticipated losing. On the proportional-representation ballot in KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC received 637,149 votes, or 20.0%, trailing the IFP on 20.1% and well behind the MKP on 34.7%. The ANC subsequently convened an extended special national executive committee meeting in Boksburg to prepare its coalition negotiations mandate.

Ramaphosa backs coalition without DA

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In a related article, Briefly News reported on Ramaphosa’s reported push for an ANC-led coalition in Johannesburg that excludes the DA, and the party’s preference for working with ActionSA.

The proposal comes after the DA emerged as Johannesburg’s largest party but fell short of a majority, leaving ActionSA and other smaller parties in a position to influence who governs the city.

Source: Briefly News