ANC under pressure to reverse South Africa decline

Verwoerd said in her view, the most stable coalitions would be those that replicate what the ANC and DA have done on a national level, where the historic rivals have agreed to share power.

Reflecting on Cape Town, she said it was unlikely that the DA would lose control of the municipality. The coastal city is widely considered the country's best-performing metro and has been run by the DA since the late 2000s when it unseated the ANC.

Ethekwini, which includes the port city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, would be a "different story", Verwoerd said.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has been projected to perform well in the area but it is unclear if it will secure the outright majority needed to run the metro.