2000 South African municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 5 December 2000 to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa.
Background
The ruling African National Congress had grown its support in the 1999 general election to 66.35% from 62.65% five years earlier. The New National Party, the successor to the National Party, had declined from being the largest opposition party to becoming the fourth largest party in the National Assembly while Tony Leon's Democratic Party had grown considerably to become the official opposition.An agreement was reached between the NNP and DP to merge into a single political party where respective NNP and DP members would contest subsequent elections as candidates of the Democratic Alliance.