South Africa’s African National Congress could be on the verge of losing in Johannesburg after it emerged that fierce rival Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken the lead in yesterday’s elections for one of the country’s most sought-after metro councils.

At 7.12am‚ the DA led in the voting results in Johannesburg, with 44.26%, followed by the African National Congress (ANC) with 40.32% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 9.77%.

At the time‚ 18% of the votes in the council had been counted.

Going into the polls‚ the ANC retained Parks Tau as its mayoral candidate while the DA introduced Black Like Me founder Herman Mashaba to battle for the country’s economic hub.

The City of Johannesburg is viewed as a strategic asset as it has positioned itself as the leader in the ANC-led metros in the country.

It houses the nation’s biggest and most celebrated township‚ Soweto‚ and the JSE.

Already‚ Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has tipped the city to host the Africa regional offices of the New Development Bank‚ a development financier established by members of the Brics grouping, Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA.