File: Delegates cheer during the second day of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Congress at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on April 12, 2026.
JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance is heading into the local government elections buoyed by its latest poll.
Results put the DA at 28.4%, just 1.2 percentage points behind the ANC at 29.6.
The narrowing gap puts the two parties closer than ever in the latest survey.
The DA is challenging the ANC for the position of South Africa’s largest political party.
DA leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, said people are hungry for change.
"They are hungry that a government should work for every resident. And in just nine days, they are going to vote for it.
"The last polls before the election day were released this morning. And they show what you and I know from talking to so many South Africans on the ground and in the streets and on the doorstep. They show that the DA is on the verge of making history in South Africa.
"We are within just a few points, just a few points of taking over the ANC as the biggest party in South Africa. We are the leading party in five of the major metros. But most exciting of all, there are hundreds of thousands of South Africans who are planning on voting for the DA for the first time ever in their lives.