The votes are counted and the bargaining has begun: Last week, at the national results centre in Midrand as the 2026 local election results came in, Daily Maverick’s Lunga Simelane spoke to ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula. He tells her how the party plans to handle coalition talks this time, what the unstable deals of the past five years have taught it, and where it draws its lines. Councils now have 14 days to elect mayors, so this is the ANC’s thinking as the deals take shape.
