South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) faces another test of its declining support as voters head to the polls in municipal elections dominated by complaints over failing public services, unemployment and persistent inequality.
The election on Wednesday will determine control of municipalities across the country, including major cities where opposition parties are seeking to capitalise on dissatisfaction with the ruling party.
Polling stations opened at 7am and are scheduled to close at 9pm local time. More than 29 million people are registered to vote, although turnout in the 2021 municipal elections fell to 46 per cent.
“I want things to change… people must get work. People mustn’t suffer,” said Thembinkosi Somana, 50, who was first in line to vote at a polling station in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township.
In Johannesburg, 41-year-old human resources worker Andrea Smith said residents should not have to contend with persistent problems accessing basic services.
“We shouldn’t be having to worrying about electricity and water. It’s been going on for years,” she told AFP.
The electoral commission said on Tuesday that 1.4 million of the 2.6 million people approved to cast special votes over two days had done so.
The ANC, which led South Africa’s liberation struggle and was associated with former president Nelson Mandela, is expected to remain the country’s largest party. However, polling points to further losses for a party whose electoral dominance has weakened in recent years.
The ANC fell below 50 per cent in the 2021 municipal elections before securing just over 40 per cent in the 2024 national election. That result forced it to share power in a government of national unity with nine other parties.
The liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s second-largest party, is targeting Johannesburg, seeking to turn frustration over service delivery into electoral gains in a city long associated with ANC rule.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, is challenging for Durban, the east coast port city where anti-migrant sentiment has featured prominently in the campaign.
MK made a major breakthrough in the 2024 national election, winning 14.5 per cent of the vote and finishing third nationally after drawing support away from the ANC.
“We are going to start by taking back our country here,” Zuma said in Durban on Sunday.
Coalition bargaining likely
The results could leave several major cities facing difficult negotiations to form governing coalitions. South Africans elect municipal councillors, who then choose mayors and establish local administrations.
Coalition and minority rule already affect local government. By February 2026, 74 of the country’s 257 municipalities were governed by coalitions or minority administrations, according to the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
Final results are expected on Sunday and will provide a clearer indication of the balance of political support ahead of the next general election in 2029.
The outcome will also shape the ANC’s internal succession debate as the party prepares to elect a new leader at its December 2027 conference. That contest is expected to influence who leads the party into the next national election.
South Africa Election Tests ANC as Voters Demand Better Services
