NELSON MANDELA BAY - IT'S COALITION TIME AGAIN AS BOTH DA & ANC NEED 13 MORE SEATS TO FORM A GOVERMENT

With both the DA and the ANC failing to win an outright majority in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, both parties will have their work cut out in convincing smaller political parties to join them in a coalition.

The DA and the ANC each won 48 seats in the hotly contested metropolitan council, with 24 seats going to smaller parties. The two parties gained support of 39.9% and 39.4%, respectively.

There are 120 seats in the Nelson Mandela Bay council and to control the municipality, a political party needs to have 61 seats.

This means that the DA or the ANC will need 13 more seats from other political parties in order to form a government.

Nelson Mandela Bay has been plagued by instability in the past five years, following a coalition government that was initially led by DA.

With a support of 6.4%, the EFF became the third biggest political party in the metropolitan council with eight seats, followed by the Northern Alliance with three seats.

The Freedom Front Plus, ACDP, Patriotic Alliance and Defenders of the People each won two seats.

Abantu Integrity Movement, UDM, AIC, GOOD and the PAC each won one seat.

IOL