South Africa votes in local elections as ANC support slips

South Africans voted on Wednesday in local government elections that could loosen the African National Congress's grip on major cities, with polls pointing to further decline for the party that has governed since apartheid ended in 1994.

More than 500 parties are contesting seats in the country's municipalities, which handle water, electricity, sanitation and refuse collection. Voting was due to close at 9pm local time, with results expected on Sunday, according to BusinessDay.

An Ipsos poll put ANC support at 30%, down from the 46% it won in the 2021 municipal elections. The same poll put the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) at 25%, up from 22%.

The ANC's share of the national vote fell from about 70% in 2004 to 40% in 2024, when it lost its parliamentary majority for the first time and formed a government of national unity with opposition parties.

Why the vote matters

For ordinary South Africans, the election is about daily basics: whether taps run, lights stay on and rubbish gets collected. Years of auditor-general reports have flagged weak financial management in most municipalities.

A recent report gave clean audits to only 39 of the country's 257 municipalities for 2024/25. None of Gauteng province's three metros — Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni — made the list.

Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke warned that Johannesburg needs sustained attention. "If we don't do that, we are going to continue on this slide where financial health deteriorates [and] where service delivery continues to be compromised," she told lawmakers.

In Alexandra, a township near Johannesburg's wealthy Sandton district, residents described piles of rubbish, potholes and unreliable water and electricity. Some said they would not vote. "It makes no difference. Things have gotten worse over the years," said Zandile Mncube, 33, who is registered but plans to stay away.

In Soweto, Mduduzi Makhubo, 45, said water cuts follow a pattern. "Every Monday we know we won't have water after 2pm," he said. He still intends to vote.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected talk of decline. "What I'm seeing here is that the ANC is going higher and higher and on the 4th [of November] we will show those naysayers," he told supporters at the party's final rally. He has also said municipal failures have damaged public trust and that the election is a chance "to turn this around".

The DA's mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, Helen Zille, drew attention with an unusual campaign that included wading through large potholes and arriving at her final rally in a classic BMW. The DA is widely expected to hold Cape Town, which it has run for years.

In KwaZulu-Natal, former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe party is hoping to build on its 2024 showing and is seen as a strong contender in eThekwini, which includes Durban.

What happens next

Few cities are expected to produce outright winners, so coalition negotiations are likely to decide who runs Johannesburg, Tshwane and eThekwini. Political analyst Melanie Verwoerd said the ANC is expected to perform worse than ever before, and that coalitions modelled on the ANC-DA national arrangement would be the most stable.

The results could also shape the contest over the ANC's leadership ahead of the 2029 general election, as Ramaphosa's term as party leader ends in 2027.