ANC under pressure to reverse South Africa decline

ByKhanyisile Ngcobo Reporting fromJohannesburg.

Key points

• A recent report only offered 39 clean audits – the highest ranking a public entity can achieve – between 2024 and 2025.
• One, conducted by Ipsos, put the ANC's backing at 30%, down from the 46% it secured at the last local elections in 2021.
• Leaders are campaigning to head South Africa's almost 300 municipalities, responsible for basic service provision such as water, electricity and refuse collection.
• At its peak, in 2004, the ANC obtained 70% of the vote in the general election.
• Years of reports by the auditor-general have highlighted the dire state of most of South Africa's 257 municipalities.

South Africans are voting in highly contested local elections probable to see a haemorrhaging of votes for the country's former ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).

This year's voting season has been marked by intense campaigns that have included politicians spinning cars, watching grannies knit and even wading through giant-sized potholes.

For the ANC, the elections are a chance to prove it still has what it takes to govern. When it lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994 when the racist apartheid system concluded, the party had a disastrous showing in the last national election.

Backing for the party has been dropping significantly over the years as of anger over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.

At its peak, in 2004, the ANC obtained 70% of the vote in the general election. Two decades afterwards its share dropped to 40%.

Polls and pundits have predicted a further loss in these elections but President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that his party was in a downward spiral.

"What I'm seeing here is that the ANC is going higher and higher and on the 4th we will show those naysayers, " he informed supporters at the party's final election rally on Sunday.

In townships like Alexandra, north-east of Johannesburg, the ANC has traditionally had a solid supporter base but poor governance and voter apathy are unravelling this backing.

Notably, the BBC visited the sprawling township a week before the elections and spoke to residents to obtain their views. One of them was Sanele Ntombela. This person is a first-time voter excited to create his voice heard.

We discovered the 18-year-old hanging out with his friends on a street corner. Most of his friends remarked they had no intention of voting and had not registered to do so.

They cited a lack of change and deteriorating delivery of basic services.

But Ntombela was looking forward to voting for the first time and thought it might lead to change.

"We face plenty of challenges in Alexandra. There's rubbish everywhere and we struggle with electricity and water and plenty of other matters, " he noted.

Just metres away, heaps of rubbish lay gathered beneath a streetlight pole covered in election posters from the different political parties.

On the other side of the street, drain water trickles through the plenty of potholes that have gutted that part of the road.

Meanwhile, the BBC additionally spoke to Zandile Mncube. This person stated she wouldn't vote, even though she is registered to do so.

In practice, the 33-year-old woman additionally cited poor service delivery and performance by local leaders for her decision.

"It makes no difference. Things have gotten worse over the years, " she remarked.

As the township is known, is a stone's throw away from Sandton, Africa's richest square mile, but the differences could not be starker, alex.

Sandton is known for its skyscrapers, designer shops and well-maintained roads but in Alex, houses are sandwiched together and rubbish, either piled together or left strewn throughout the pavement, is everywhere. The stench of raw sewage and uncollected rubbish is heavy in the air, but residents appear applied to it.

Meanwhile, the problems plaguing Alexandra are not unique. A drive around Gauteng province reveals similar patterns of neglect and disrepair, especially in the townships.

South of Johannesburg, Soweto looks marginally cleaner than Alexandra, but residents additionally complain concerning service delivery.

Mduduzi Makhubo, 45, has lived in Soweto his entire life and he informed the BBC of the community's daily struggles with accessing water and electricity.

"Every Monday we know we won't have water after 2pm, " he remarked.

Makhubo is registered to vote and intends to employ his vote to agreement with the "arrogance" he notes local leaders have towards residents and "change the status quo".

Can this man broaden the appeal of a South African party seen by some as 'too white'? South Africa's political marriage of convenience avoids divorce – just.

These areas offer a small, but significant, glimpse into the state of South Africa's local governance.

Meanwhile, a recent report only offered 39 clean audits – the highest ranking a public entity can achieve – between 2024 and 2025. None of Gauteng's three metro cities, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, featured in this list. Earlier this year auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke remarked Johannesburg "needs ongoing attention".

"If we don't that, we are going to continue on this slide where financial health deteriorates where service delivery continues to be compromised, which is what we are living, " she informed lawmakers.

Notably, the city has been labelled "effectively bankrupt" due to the dire state of its finances. Dirty streets, unstable electricity supply and persistent water problems have been common for years.

Experts the BBC spoke to agreed that all eyes will be on Africa's wealthiest city as well as the country's seven other biggest municipalities, or metros, particularly those in Gauteng when the results come in.

For context, the expectation is that the ANC generally in the country is going to the worst it's ever done.

Of South Africa's eight metros, only three are governed by a single party. In Gauteng, all three metros are governed by coalition governments, with the ANC the largest party. But that might change.

Political analyst Melanie Verwoerd remarked the elections would be a "verdict. And judgment" on the ANC.

In practice, a number of polls point to a continued decline in backing for the party in Wednesday's election, contested by over 500 political parties.

In short, ANC under pressure to reverse South Africa decline is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.