South Africans voted in municipal elections on Monday, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) hoping to avert its worst result since the end of white minority rule.
There has been little reliable political polling, but based on the climate of discontent and the few surveys that have been conducted some pundits predict the ANC’s vote share could fall below 50% for the first time since the end of apartheid.
President Cyril Ramaphosa remains popular after mobilising government grants that prevented COVID-19 from becoming a hunger crisis but lasting poverty, crumbling infrastructure and nearly a third of workers unemployed mean some voters have lost patience with the party that has ruled for 27 years.
Ramaphosa acknowledged that many voters were not happy, but called on them to support the party so it could improve.
The ANC hopes to win back metropolitan areas it lost to opposition-led coalitions in 2016, including in Johannesburg and Pretoria, when its 54% vote share was its worst since coming to power. read more
Polls opened at 0500 GMT and will close at 1900 GMT.
ANC supporters say reversing decades of apartheid-era neglect in Black neighbourhoods was never going to be a quick fix but it has also been dogged by corruption scandal
