KIMBERLEY, Friday 6 November 2026 — Rise Tsantsabane Communities (RTC), a political party registered less than nine months before South Africa’s local government elections, has won an outright majority in the Tsantsabane Local Municipality in the Northern Cape, ending the African National Congress’s (ANC) control of the council.
The community-based party secured seven of the municipality’s 13 council seats, winning every ward contested in Wednesday’s elections.
The result gives RTC enough seats to govern without a coalition partner and represents a significant breakthrough for a local political movement contesting its first municipal election.
RTC wins all seven wards
IEC-derived results show RTC winning all seven wards in Tsantsabane, which includes Postmasburg and surrounding mining communities.
The ANC, which held seven seats after the 2021 municipal elections, was reduced to three proportional representation seats.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Patriotic Alliance (PA) each secured one seat.
RTC received approximately 43.5% of valid ward votes, compared with 29.4% for the ANC, according to the completed ward results.
The party’s seven ward victories gave it a majority of council seats despite receiving less than half the ward vote.
New party campaigns on municipal services and jobs
RTC was registered on 18 February 2026 and is led by founder and mayoral candidate Michael “Gogo” Mabilo.
The movement campaigned on improving municipal services, expanding employment opportunities and ensuring that communities benefit from economic activity in the mining region.
At its campaign launch, Mabilo linked the party’s formation to residents’ concerns about deteriorating roads, water and sanitation services, and unemployment.
Tsantsabane is home to substantial mining activity, making employment and the relationship between local communities and mining operations prominent political issues.
ANC loses outright majority
The result reverses the municipality’s 2021 electoral outcome, when the ANC won seven of the 13 council seats and governed with an outright majority.
RTC’s victory leaves the ANC in opposition, alongside the DA, EFF and PA.
The incoming council will still need to be formally constituted and elect its mayor, speaker and other office-bearers.
RTC’s seven-seat majority gives it the numerical strength to elect municipal leadership without support from another party, provided its councillors vote together.
The party will now face the task of implementing its service-delivery and employment commitments after displacing the ANC in one of the Northern Cape’s mining municipalities.
