Nelson Mandela Bay will be led by new govt: DA
With the DA having won the previously ANC-led Nelson Mandela Bay, mayoral candidate Athol Trollip says he is already in talks with other opposition parties about forming a new government.
"It would be premature for me to tell who exactly the other people are until I've had personal discussions with them so Bantu Holomisa confirmed last night and I've confirmed that I've spoken to Mongameli Bobane who definitely will be central to that.
"And we need two other councillors. There are seven other individual parties - there's the EFF with six seats and the ANC with 50 seats. So we will put together a government and we will co-operate," he said.
Trollip says it's no longer a matter of 'if' he becomes mayor.
"I am going to be the mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay. It will be formalised at the first council. The first thing I'm going to do is make sure our manifesto is fitted into the IDP because the IDP of the ANC cannot be the IDP of the DA.
"I'm going to reprioritise our budget as soon as I can because I believe the current government has not paid enough attention to infrastructure maintenance and development," he said.
ANC national Chairperson Baleka Mbete says they are not worried that no one is keen on forming a coalition with the party.
"We are with them here at the Election Operation Centre - we are greeting, we're fine and we're all in the interest of working for our we are all political leaders working in the interest of our people. So really, I wouldn't be bothered.
EFF leader Julius Malema has meanwhile thanked South Africans who voted for their party.
He says they are happy to have brought votes for the ANC to under 60%.
"Because the ANC - receiving a majority of votes thought they were doing something right. Now the whispering is too loud. The message is clear, the writing is on the wall and 2019 is going to be a serious challenge for the whole party," he said.