South Africa votes in local elections with the ANC under pressure to reverse its decline
South Africans vote on Wednesday 4 November in local government elections for the municipalities that run water, electricity and refuse services, with the African National Congress under pressure to reverse years of decline amid anger over corruption, crime and failing services. The ANC fell below 50% in the 2021 local elections and lost its national parliamentary majority in 2024; one Ipsos poll puts its support at 30%, down from the 46% it won in 2021. More than 2.6 million special votes were approved for early voting on Monday and Tuesday, and results are expected by Sunday.
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Key points
- Voting day: Wednesday 4 November, polls 7am–9pm, for the municipalities that run water, power and refuse — 500-plus parties contesting; results expected by Sunday.
- The ANC is defending a long slide: 70% in 2004, below 50% in the 2021 local elections, its national majority lost in 2024 — and an Ipsos poll puts it at 30% this time.
- Early voting was heavy: 2,655,067 special votes approved, at least 780,000 cast on the first day, per the IEC.
Watch: the moment itself
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Video: SABC News · Watch on YouTube
What happened
Local elections in South Africa decide who runs the services people feel daily — water, electricity, refuse — and years of auditor-general reports have highlighted the dire state of most of the country's 257 municipalities, with only 39 clean audits in the last reporting year the BBC cites. In Alexandra township, north-east of Johannesburg, the BBC found first-time voters eager to be heard alongside registered voters who said they would stay home, tired of poor services.
Nationally, the vote is the first big test since the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 and was forced into a coalition with the DA and smaller parties. With no other party large enough to take its place, Reuters reports many cities are heading for unsteady coalitions — and control of Johannesburg, where the DA's Helen Zille is projected to lead the vote without a majority, is the single biggest prize.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · The ANC
- President Cyril Ramaphosa denied at the party's final rally on Sunday that the ANC is in a downward spiral: '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.'
- For the ANC, these elections are a chance to prove it still has what it takes to govern the municipalities where most South Africans meet the state.
Side B · Analysts and the opposition
- Political analyst Melanie Verwoerd told the BBC the elections are a verdict on the ANC and 'the expectation is that the ANC generally in the country is going to [perform] the worst it's ever done.'
- In Johannesburg, the biggest prize, the Democratic Alliance's mayoral candidate Helen Zille is projected to win the most votes but fall short of a majority, pointing to more coalition-run cities.
Independently verified
South Africans vote on Wednesday 4 November 2026 in local government elections for the municipalities responsible for basic services such as water, electricity and refuse collection. Polls are open from 7am to 9pm (0500–1900 GMT), more than 500 political parties are contesting, the Electoral Commission (IEC) has seven days to announce the results — expected on Sunday — and parties then have 14 days to form governing structures. Early voting was heavy: the IEC approved 2,655,067 special vote applications — more than double the 1.1 million registered in 2021 — for voting on Monday and Tuesday, including home visits, and the Commission says at least 780,000 votes were cast on the first day of special voting. Stations in parts of Cape Town that opened late because ballot papers were distributed late were given extra time and closed at 6pm, IEC chief executive Sy Mamabolo told a media briefing in Midrand. The ANC's long decline is the backdrop: it won 70% of the general-election vote at its peak in 2004 and 40% two decades later, losing its parliamentary majority in 2024 for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994; it dropped below 50% for the first time in the 2021 municipal elections. An Ipsos poll cited by the BBC puts the ANC's support in these elections at 30%, down from the 46% it won in 2021, with the Democratic Alliance at 25%, up from 22%. The two readings of the day are on the record as positions, not findings: President Cyril Ramaphosa told the ANC's final rally on Sunday that the party is 'going higher and higher' and denied it is in a downward spiral, while political analyst Melanie Verwoerd told the BBC the vote is a verdict on the ANC and she expects its worst performance ever. Reuters reports control of Johannesburg — South Africa's commercial hub — is the largest prize, with the DA's Helen Zille projected to win the most votes there but fall short of a majority, and that the outcome will set the stage for the 2029 national election and the ANC succession race as Ramaphosa approaches the end of his term as party leader in 2027.Not yet verified
Nothing outstanding.Claim by claim
Why this label: Reuters reports the Wednesday vote, the 7am–9pm polling hours and results expected on Sunday; the BBC reports the 500-plus parties, the IEC's seven-day window and the 14 days to form governments. Election-day facts are carried in Checking state and this page updates as the IEC announces results — no result is claimed here.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The IEC's own figures as carried by SABC News, the public broadcaster, from the Commission's briefings (the applications total and the first-day count; Mamabolo's account of the Cape Town delays). The attached SABC News video is the Commission's first-day special-voting briefing report.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The vote shares and the 2024 majority loss are reported by both the BBC and Reuters; the Ipsos figures are the BBC's citation of that poll — a poll is an expectation, not a result, and is labelled as such wherever it appears on this page.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (1 more)
Why this label: Ramaphosa's and Verwoerd's words are their own stated positions, quoted by the BBC from the rally and its interviews; the Johannesburg projection and the 2029/succession framing are Reuters' reporting and analysis, carried as such. None of these is a result.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The election's shape — voting day and hours, 500-plus parties, the IEC's results timetable — and the early-voting scale, from Reuters, the BBC and the IEC's own figures via SABC News; the ANC's vote-share history (70% in 2004, 40% in 2024, below 50% in the 2021 local elections) from the BBC and Reuters in agreement.
What we don't know yet
- Every result — counting starts when polls close at 9pm, the IEC has seven days to announce results and they are expected on Sunday; no outcome is carried here until the IEC announces it.
- Turnout on the main voting day, and whether election day itself runs smoothly after the Cape Town ballot-paper delays in special voting.
- Who will run Johannesburg and the other metros, and which coalitions form in the 14 days parties have after the results.
Why it matters
This is the first nationwide test of South African opinion since the ANC lost the majority it had held since 1994 — fought over the failing water, power and refuse services that decide daily life, in the municipalities where trust in local government has been collapsing. The shape of the result will set up the 2029 national election and the race to succeed Ramaphosa.
Background
Show the background timeline (6)
The ANC wins South Africa's first democratic election after the end of apartheid and begins three decades of national dominance.
The ANC's general-election peak: 70% of the vote.
The ANC drops below 50% for the first time, in the municipal elections — winning 46% in the local vote.
The ANC wins 40% nationally and loses its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994; it is forced into a coalition with the DA and smaller parties.
Special voting: 2,655,067 approved applications, at least 780,000 votes cast on the first day, per the IEC.
Main voting day: polls open 7am to 9pm; results expected by Sunday.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Story published in Checking state from queue #1421 on voting day, before any result exists. Basis: the BBC's and Reuters' voting-day reports and the IEC's own figures via SABC News. No result is claimed; this page updates when the IEC announces results. SABC News's IEC briefing video is attached (oEmbed 200). The hero is a labelled file photo of an IEC voting station, not from this election.