Apartment blocks and the Hillbrow telecom tower in Johannesburg, in a March 2020 photo. It shows the skyline only, not any march, migrants or the meeting. Photo: Bertrand van der Berg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Africa: South Africa

Two parties that disagreed over who should be Johannesburg’s mayor are talking again after an election that left no party with a majority. The ANC, South Africa’s largest national party, has yet to say what it wants.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), met Herman Mashaba, leader of ActionSA, on Thursday 12 November 2026 to talk about running Johannesburg, Tshwane (the Pretoria area) and Ekurhuleni (the East Rand) together. Mashaba wrote on the social platform X that it was “a frank and productive meeting”, and ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont called it “another productive coalition discussion”.

No agreement has been announced, and Mashaba has not said what was discussed. The DA’s national spokesperson, Jan de Villiers, has said the party will not negotiate through the media.

Why Johannesburg Needs a Deal

The early-November municipal elections left the DA as the largest party in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, the three “metros” (big-city governments) of Gauteng province, but with no outright majority in any of them. ActionSA finished second in Tshwane, the metro that includes the capital Pretoria, which gives it a say in who governs.

Councillors elect the mayor, so a party without a majority must find partners. The Municipal Structures Act, the law that governs South Africa’s councils, requires the municipal manager, the council’s top official, to call a new council’s first meeting within 14 days of the council being declared elected.

A 2026 amendment bill proposes to extend that period to 30 days. We explained the current deadline in our report on the mayoral deadline.

File photo. Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city and business hub, at sunset. Photo: Frankbel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

What Mashaba Has Put on the Table

In a letter dated 7 November, whose existence ActionSA has confirmed, Mashaba proposed that he and Helen Zille, a DA candidate for Johannesburg mayor, both withdraw. The DA would then name another candidate ActionSA could back.

For Tshwane, the letter proposed that the DA support ActionSA’s mayoral candidate Nasiphi Moya, with DA candidate Cilliers Brink giving up his council seat. The DA has not publicly accepted these terms, and our earlier report on what happens if the talks fail sets out the options.

Where the ANC Stands

The ANC, South Africa’s largest national party, called an extended special national executive committee, its top decision-making body between conferences, for Thursday 12 November 2026. Its agenda was to adopt a “Mandating Guide” for its negotiating team and to hear reports on early talks with other parties, and at the time of writing the party had not published an outcome.

Mashaba has publicly defended ActionSA’s willingness to work with the ANC to keep services running and councils stable. We looked at the party’s options when we weighed the ANC’s coalition choices.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Polymarket, a prediction market where users trade on outcomes, the “Next Mayor of Johannesburg?” market showed Helen Zille at about 39% and Herman Mashaba at about 18% at 4:33 a.m. ET on Friday 13 November 2026, with US$164,519 traded in total. Those displayed prices are bets, not polls, and the mayor is chosen by councillors rather than voters.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What It Means for You

The outcome decides who runs the budgets of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, and of Tshwane. Investors and companies with operations there should watch the ANC’s mandate, any DA and ActionSA statement, and the date of each council’s first meeting, which we track in our coverage of split councils and on the South Africa news hub.

What Is Not Known

Neither party has disclosed what was agreed on Thursday, and the ANC’s mandate for its negotiators has not been published. The exact date by which each council’s first meeting must be called depends on when its results were declared, which this article does not confirm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Geordin Hill-Lewis?

He is the federal leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), according to the party’s website. He met ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba on 12 November 2026.

Has the DA agreed a deal with ActionSA?

No agreement had been announced by Friday 13 November 2026. Both sides called the Thursday meeting productive.

Who won Johannesburg?

The DA finished first in Johannesburg without an outright majority. Councillors elect the mayor, so the largest party needs partners.

When must councils hold their first meeting?

The Municipal Structures Act requires the municipal manager, the council’s top official, to call a new council’s first meeting within 14 days of the council being declared elected. The exact date depends on the declaration date, which has not been confirmed here.

Sources: ANC media advisory of 11 November 2026 (anc1912.org.za); Democratic Alliance; statements by Herman Mashaba on X and by ActionSA and DA officials, 7 to 12 November 2026; Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, section 29; municipal election results of the Electoral Commission of South Africa; Polymarket, Next Mayor of Johannesburg?, read 13 November 2026.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error