Eight mayors in ten years: Nelson Mandela Bay's decade of coalition chaos
Mayoral governments and coalitions in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro council, August 2016 – November 2026 · 120-seat council; 61 seats required for a majority
8
mayors in ten years
(2016–2026)
(2016–2026)
0
coalitions surviving
a full five-year term
a full five-year term
3
successive hung councils
(2016, 2021, 2026)
(2016, 2021, 2026)
2016 Local Election
DA 57 seats · ANC 50 · EFF 6 · others 7 — hung council
17 August 2016
South Africa's first post-apartheid coalition metro is born
DA-led coalition
61 seats
Athol Trollip (DA) becomes mayor after the DA partners with UDM, COPE and ACDP to scrape a bare majority of 61 seats. It is the first formal multi-party coalition to govern a South African metro — and sets the template for instability that will follow.
Athol Trollip (DA) becomes mayor after the DA partners with UDM, COPE and ACDP to scrape a bare majority of 61 seats. It is the first formal multi-party coalition to govern a South African metro — and sets the template for instability that will follow.
27 August 2018
Trollip falls after a DA councillor defects
ANC-backed minority
Coalition 1 lasted ~2 years
A single DA councillor's defection costs the coalition its majority. A motion of no confidence passes and Deputy Mayor Mongameli Bobani (UDM) — backed by the ANC, EFF, PA and AIC — is installed as mayor. The DA-led government collapses after just over two years.
A single DA councillor's defection costs the coalition its majority. A motion of no confidence passes and Deputy Mayor Mongameli Bobani (UDM) — backed by the ANC, EFF, PA and AIC — is installed as mayor. The DA-led government collapses after just over two years.
December 2019
Bobani removed; city enters caretaker limbo
Mongameli Bobani is himself ousted via a motion of no confidence after 16 months. ANC councillor Thsonono Buyeye serves briefly as acting mayor. The metro is effectively ungoverned for nearly a year while court orders and failed council sittings stall any resolution.
December 2020
Nqaba Bhanga (DA) elected after court-ordered council sitting
DA minority
A court compels a council sitting. Nqaba Bhanga (DA) wins the mayoralty but governs without a durable coalition, bridging the city to the 2021 local elections.
A court compels a council sitting. Nqaba Bhanga (DA) wins the mayoralty but governs without a durable coalition, bridging the city to the 2021 local elections.
2021 Local Election
DA 48 seats · ANC 48 · EFF 8 · others 16 — dead-heat hung council
22 November 2021
ANC forms Coalition 2 with 60 votes — by one seat
ANC-led coalition
60 seats
The 2021 election produces a perfect tie — ANC and DA each win exactly 48 seats. The ANC stitches together Northern Alliance, GOOD, AIC, UDM, PAC and others to elect Eugené Johnson mayor by 60 votes to the DA's 59. The thinnest of margins.
The 2021 election produces a perfect tie — ANC and DA each win exactly 48 seats. The ANC stitches together Northern Alliance, GOOD, AIC, UDM, PAC and others to elect Eugené Johnson mayor by 60 votes to the DA's 59. The thinnest of margins.
21 September 2022
DA wrests control back — Odendaal becomes youngest-ever NMB mayor
DA-led coalition
62 seats
Coalition 2 lasted ~10 months
Johnson's ANC-led coalition unravels after 10 months. The DA partners with PAC, Northern Alliance and AIC to elect Retief Odendaal (DA) with 62 votes — but his coalition is built on shifting loyalties it cannot hold.
Johnson's ANC-led coalition unravels after 10 months. The DA partners with PAC, Northern Alliance and AIC to elect Retief Odendaal (DA) with 62 votes — but his coalition is built on shifting loyalties it cannot hold.
26 May 2023
EFF tables no-confidence motion; Northern Alliance and AIC defect, toppling Odendaal
NA-led (ANC-backed)
64 seats
Coalition 3 lasted ~8 months
The EFF's motion of no confidence succeeds after the Northern Alliance, AIC and PAC switch sides — partners-turned-kingbreakers. Gary van Niekerk (National Alliance) is elected mayor with 64 votes, underwritten by an ANC–EFF arrangement. Coalition 4 is the city's most complex yet.
The EFF's motion of no confidence succeeds after the Northern Alliance, AIC and PAC switch sides — partners-turned-kingbreakers. Gary van Niekerk (National Alliance) is elected mayor with 64 votes, underwritten by an ANC–EFF arrangement. Coalition 4 is the city's most complex yet.
31 October 2024
Van Niekerk replaced by ANC's Babalwa Lobishe — same coalition, new face
ANC-backed coalition
65 seats
After 17 months as mayor, Van Niekerk is replaced within the same coalition by ANC councillor Babalwa Lobishe — signalling the ANC reasserting control over its own arrangement. The coalition governs until the 2026 elections, its 65-seat majority the broadest the city has seen since the coalition era began.
After 17 months as mayor, Van Niekerk is replaced within the same coalition by ANC councillor Babalwa Lobishe — signalling the ANC reasserting control over its own arrangement. The coalition governs until the 2026 elections, its 65-seat majority the broadest the city has seen since the coalition era began.
2026 Local Election
DA 53 seats (44.4%) · ANC 32 (25.6%) · EFF 7 · PA 4 · SACP 4 · FF+ ~3 — third hung council
November 2026
DA surges to 53 — but still 8 seats short. The cycle begins again
Coalition negotiations ongoing
Coalition 4 lasted ~18 months total
The 2026 election delivers a third successive hung council. The ANC catastrophically collapses from 48 seats to 32 — its worst Nelson Mandela Bay result since the coalition era began. The DA climbs to 53 but remains 8 seats short of the 61 needed to govern alone. Experts say the DA must win over two to four smaller parties. No mayor has yet been elected. The carousel of coalitions is set to spin again.
The 2026 election delivers a third successive hung council. The ANC catastrophically collapses from 48 seats to 32 — its worst Nelson Mandela Bay result since the coalition era began. The DA climbs to 53 but remains 8 seats short of the 61 needed to govern alone. Experts say the DA must win over two to four smaller parties. No mayor has yet been elected. The carousel of coalitions is set to spin again.
Nelson Mandela Bay has had eight mayors in ten years — not one coalition surviving a full five-year term — a direct consequence of three successive hung councils since 2016. But the deeper story is the ANC's collapse: from an outright majority in 2011, to a tied 48 seats in 2021, to just 32 in 2026 — yet even the dominant DA at 53 seats cannot govern alone, locking the metro into a third round of fragile coalition-building.
Daily Maverick · Source: News24, 2016; ACCORD Coalitions Tracker, 2024; IOL, Nov 2026
