In the township of Alexandra, where the glittering towers of Sandton can be seen from broken streets, a young first-time voter named Sanele Ntombela stands among heaps of rubbish and drain water, still hoping that a ballot might bring change. Across South Africa, the local elections test a party that once carried the nation's liberation story and now faces a slow erosion of trust, as the basic promises of water, power and clean streets go unmet. The question these votes pose is less about ideology than about whether a government can still keep the everyday contract with the people it serves.
ANC Faces Its Gravest Local Test as South Africans Vote Amid Service Decline
Residents in Alexandra and Soweto face daily shortages of water and electricity and live amid uncollected rubbish and raw sewage, with many voters disillusioned enough to stay away from the polls.
Things have gotten worse over the years.
Mark
Why are these local elections drawing so much attention?
Mimi
Because they decide who runs water, electricity and rubbish collection, and those services are visibly failing in places like Alexandra and Soweto.
Mark
And the ANC's position?
Mimi
Support fell from 70% in 2004 to about 40% in the last national vote. One Ipsos poll has it at 30% now, versus 46% in 2021.
Luke
That 30% is one poll's figure. The reporting says several polls point to decline, but only Ipsos is quoted with numbers, so treat it as a projection, not a result.
Mark
Ramaphosa says the party is rising.
Mimi
He said so at Sunday's rally. Analysts and polls disagree, but rally claims are not evidence either way.
Luke
Right. And the residents quoted are a handful of people. Several friends of Ntombela said they would not vote, but that is anecdote, not a turnout measure.
Mark
What about the coalitions?
Mimi
Analysts expect ANC-DA deals in most metros. Ethekwini hinges on whether MK can find partners.
Luke
Those are predictions. MK's majority is unclear, and nothing is settled until results arrive within seven days and parties have 14 to form governments.
Il Polso
- Polls suggest the ANC may tumble to around 30 percent from 46 percent, while the DA edges upward and Johannesburg becomes the sharpest battleground.
- Residents in Alexandra and Soweto live with daily water cuts, rubbish piled beside streetlights, and the stench of raw sewage in the air.
- Johannesburg has been called effectively bankrupt, and none of Gauteng's three metros earned a clean audit, deepening the sense of a city slipping out of control.
- Coalition talks in the metros and the uncertain rise of Zuma's MK Party in KwaZulu-Natal will decide who governs next, with results due within seven days and government formation to follow.
In the township of Alexandra, where the glittering towers of Sandton can be seen from broken streets, a young first-time voter named Sanele Ntombela stands among heaps of rubbish and drain water, still hoping that a ballot might bring change. Across South Africa, the local elections test a party that once carried the nation's liberation story and now faces a slow erosion of trust, as the basic promises of water, power and clean streets go unmet. The question these votes pose is less about ideology than about whether a government can still keep the everyday contract with the people it serves.
On a street corner in Alexandra, eighteen-year-old Sanele Ntombela stands with friends a week before the vote. Most of them have not registered and say nothing will change. Ntombela is the exception. He is a first-time voter who believes his ballot might matter, and he describes the rubbish, the power cuts and the failing water as the everyday weight of living here. Alexandra sits within sight of Sandton's skyscrapers, and the contrast is hard to miss: packed houses, potholed roads, and a sewage smell that residents seem to have learned to live with.
The elections, with more than 500 parties competing for nearly 300 municipalities, are fundamentally about these basics. They are also the biggest test yet for the ANC, which lost its parliamentary majority in the last national vote for the first time since apartheid ended. Polls suggest its support could fall to around 30 percent from 46 percent in 2021, while the Democratic Alliance gains modestly, especially in Johannesburg. President Ramaphosa insists the party is rising, but analysts expect one of its worst results ever.
The auditor-general's findings match what residents describe. Only 39 of 257 municipalities received clean audits, and none of Gauteng's three metros were among them. Johannesburg has been called effectively bankrupt. In Soweto, Mduduzi Makhubo knows that water will vanish every Monday after 2pm, and he plans to vote against what he sees as arrogance from local leaders. Zandile Mncube, registered in Alexandra, will stay home because she believes things have only grown worse.
Campaigning has been theatrical. Helen Zille, the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate, has been filmed swimming through potholes and arriving at her final rally in a classic BMW. Coalitions are expected in most metros, with an ANC-DA arrangement seen as likely in many places. Cape Town is expected to stay with the DA. KwaZulu-Natal's eThekwini, however, may hinge on Zuma's MK Party, which is expected to do well but probably fall short of a majority. The electoral commission has seven days to announce results, and parties then have two weeks to form governments that will determine whether the taps run and the rubbish is collected.
On a street corner in Alexandra, the township north-east of Johannesburg, 18-year-old Sanele Ntombela was standing with his friends a week before South Africans went to the polls. Most of them told the BBC they had not registered and would not vote, citing a lack of change and the worsening delivery of basic services. Ntombela was the exception. He is a first-time voter, and he thinks his ballot might lead to change. "There's rubbish everywhere and we struggle with electricity and water and many other issues," he said.
Behind him, heaps of rubbish had collected beneath a streetlight pole plastered with party election posters. Across the road, drain water trickled through potholes that have gutted that stretch of tarmac. Alexandra sits a stone's throw from Sandton, known for skyscrapers, designer shops and well-kept roads, yet the contrast is stark. In Alex, houses are packed tightly together, rubbish is piled or strewn across pavements, and the smell of raw sewage and uncollected waste hangs in the air. Residents appear used to it.
The local elections, in which over 500 parties are competing for control of nearly 300 municipalities, are about exactly these things: water, electricity and refuse collection. They are also the biggest test yet of the African National Congress since it lost its parliamentary majority in the last national election, the first time that had happened since apartheid ended in 1994. The party took 70% of the vote at its peak in 2004, and about 40% two decades later. Anger over corruption, unemployment and crime has driven the slide.
The polls point further down. An Ipsos survey put ANC support at 30%, against the 46% it won in the 2021 local elections. The same survey, along with others, shows a slight rise for the Democratic Alliance, particularly in Johannesburg: 25%, up from 22%. President Cyril Ramaphosa rejects the idea of decline. At the party's final rally on Sunday he said the ANC was "going higher and higher" and that on 4 November it would show the naysayers. Political analyst Melanie Verwoerd, a former ANC MP and ambassador to Ireland, called the vote a verdict and judgment on the party, and said the expectation is that it will do the worst it has ever done.
The evidence on the ground fits the auditor-general's findings. Of the country's 257 municipalities, only 39 received clean audits, the top rating, between 2024 and 2025. None of Gauteng's three metros, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, made the list. Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke told lawmakers earlier this year that Johannesburg needs ongoing attention, warning that otherwise financial health will keep deteriorating and service delivery will keep being compromised. The city has been labelled effectively bankrupt.
South of Johannesburg, Soweto looks marginally cleaner, but residents voice the same complaints. Mduduzi Makhubo, 45, has lived there all his life. "Every Monday we know we won't have water after 2pm," he said. He is registered and plans to use his vote against what he calls the arrogance of local leaders. Zandile Mncube, 33, is registered in Alexandra but will stay home. "It makes no difference," she said. "Things have gotten worse over the years." Over 29 million citizens are registered, but turnout, especially among the young, has steadily fallen. Analyst Levy Ndou blames the calibre of candidates and the invisibility of local councillors during campaigns.
Campaigning has been theatrical. DA leader Helen Zille, running for Johannesburg's mayoral chain, has been filmed swimming in crater-sized potholes, ziplining over sinkholes and arriving at her final rally in a classic BMW 325i, known as a "Gusheshe". She told radio station 702 that the best-run towns and cities are under DA governance.
Of the eight metros, only three are run by a single party. All three in Gauteng are coalitions led by the ANC as largest party, and Verwoerd expects coalitions to continue. Such arrangements are often seen as unstable, with leadership changes hurting services. Verwoerd said the steadiest would mirror the national ANC-DA power-sharing deal, and Ndou also saw an ANC-DA coalition as unavoidable in most metros. Cape Town, the best-performing metro and DA-run since the late 2000s, is unlikely to change hands. Ethekwini, which includes Durban, is different: Jacob Zuma's MK Party is projected to do well but polls suggest it will fall short of a majority, and its refusal to work with the ANC or DA would make forming a government very messy. Zuma has vowed to take several municipalities.
The electoral commission has seven days to announce results. Parties then have 14 days to form a governing structure.
Citazioni salienti
Every Monday we know we won't have water after 2pm.— Mduduzi Makhubo, 45, Soweto resident
The ANC is going higher and higher, and we will show the naysayers.— President Cyril Ramaphosa (paraphrased), final rally
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Politics & Governance