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| A.N.C. Suffers Major Election Setback in South Africa | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| JOHANNESBURG — The African National Congress, the party that helped liberate black South Africans from white-minority rule but that has become mired in corruption, endured its worst election since taking power after the end of apartheid, according to results released on Friday. | |
| The A.N.C. lost a large black-majority city, Nelson Mandela Bay, for the first time and suffered heavy losses in urban areas, where a growing number of black, middle-class voters turned against the party and the politics of patronage personified by President Jacob Zuma. | |
| The two most highly contested of the races — in Johannesburg, the commercial capital, and Pretoria, the political capital — were too close to call on Friday afternoon. | |
| But nationwide, with 95 percent of ballots counted, the A.N.C. garnered 54 percent of the vote — its lowest level in an election since in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became president and the party became South Africa’s dominant political force. | |
| The showing in this week’s municipal elections fell well below the threshold of 60 percent that the party’s secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, identified in a report in October as “a psychological and political turning point that would be interpreted as an indication of the demise of the movement.” | |
| The main beneficiary was the Democratic Alliance, an organization that was long led by white South Africans and that the A.N.C. had attacked as a Trojan horse for white interests. | The main beneficiary was the Democratic Alliance, an organization that was long led by white South Africans and that the A.N.C. had attacked as a Trojan horse for white interests. |
| The alliance won Nelson Mandela Bay and was slightly ahead of the A.N.C. in the contest for Pretoria. | |
| Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the A.N.C. and of the nation, said at a news conference on Friday afternoon that the organization would “do an introspective look at ourselves.” | Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the A.N.C. and of the nation, said at a news conference on Friday afternoon that the organization would “do an introspective look at ourselves.” |
| “We are a party that’s not going away from the body politic of this country,” he said. “Where we have shown areas of weakness, we are going to get better and improve. That’s who we are. We learn from our mistakes.” | “We are a party that’s not going away from the body politic of this country,” he said. “Where we have shown areas of weakness, we are going to get better and improve. That’s who we are. We learn from our mistakes.” |
| The A.N.C.’s enduring grip on rural areas dependent on the party’s deeply rooted patronage network will most likely ensure its dominance on the national stage for at least another decade, according to experts and even to officials in the opposition. | The A.N.C.’s enduring grip on rural areas dependent on the party’s deeply rooted patronage network will most likely ensure its dominance on the national stage for at least another decade, according to experts and even to officials in the opposition. |
| But pressure could mount on party leaders to replace Mr. Zuma, whose seven years in office have been marked by a series of scandals, before the end of his second and final term, in 2019. | But pressure could mount on party leaders to replace Mr. Zuma, whose seven years in office have been marked by a series of scandals, before the end of his second and final term, in 2019. |
| The A.N.C.’s national tally was about eight percentage points lower than the 62 percent it received in the most recent local elections, in 2011. | The A.N.C.’s national tally was about eight percentage points lower than the 62 percent it received in the most recent local elections, in 2011. |
| But in the country’s eight largest cities, home to about 40 percent of the population, it suffered double-digit declines in many areas. | But in the country’s eight largest cities, home to about 40 percent of the population, it suffered double-digit declines in many areas. |
| With 73 percent of the votes counted, the A.N.C.’s share of the vote in Johannesburg dropped to 42 percent from 59 percent in 2011. | With 73 percent of the votes counted, the A.N.C.’s share of the vote in Johannesburg dropped to 42 percent from 59 percent in 2011. |
| Voters in Nelson Mandela Bay — South Africa’s fifth-biggest city, whose population is 60 percent black — chose as its new mayor Athol Trollip, a 52-year-old white South African from the Democratic Alliance with a long career in progressive politics. | Voters in Nelson Mandela Bay — South Africa’s fifth-biggest city, whose population is 60 percent black — chose as its new mayor Athol Trollip, a 52-year-old white South African from the Democratic Alliance with a long career in progressive politics. |
| For the party, which was traditionally led by white South Africans who opposed apartheid but now has many young black leaders, the election results are the first significant victories outside its stronghold in the western part of the country. | For the party, which was traditionally led by white South Africans who opposed apartheid but now has many young black leaders, the election results are the first significant victories outside its stronghold in the western part of the country. |
| Whites and South Africans of mixed race make up the party’s core supporters in that area, and blacks make up only about one-third of the population. | Whites and South Africans of mixed race make up the party’s core supporters in that area, and blacks make up only about one-third of the population. |
| The Democratic Alliance retained Cape Town, the nation’s second-biggest city, with a landslide victory. | The Democratic Alliance retained Cape Town, the nation’s second-biggest city, with a landslide victory. |
| Under its first black party leader, Mmusi Maimane, since last year, the Democratic Alliance appears to have made inroads even in A.N.C. strongholds, especially among young voters whose image of the A.N.C. has less to do with Nelson Mandela than with Mr. Zuma. | Under its first black party leader, Mmusi Maimane, since last year, the Democratic Alliance appears to have made inroads even in A.N.C. strongholds, especially among young voters whose image of the A.N.C. has less to do with Nelson Mandela than with Mr. Zuma. |
| “I wanted change,” said Tebogo Malatjie, an unemployed 22-year-old man who voted for the Democratic Alliance in Soweto on Wednesday morning. | “I wanted change,” said Tebogo Malatjie, an unemployed 22-year-old man who voted for the Democratic Alliance in Soweto on Wednesday morning. |
| Mr. Malatjie backed the A.N.C. in national elections in 2014, but he said he felt that the party had done little to improve the stagnant national economy or to help his family, which has been waiting for public housing for nearly 12 years. | Mr. Malatjie backed the A.N.C. in national elections in 2014, but he said he felt that the party had done little to improve the stagnant national economy or to help his family, which has been waiting for public housing for nearly 12 years. |
| “You cannot vote for the A.N.C. if you want change,” he said. | “You cannot vote for the A.N.C. if you want change,” he said. |