South Africans voted in local elections seen as a tough test for the declining ANC amid anger over crumbling services

Nearly 29 million registered voters turned out across South Africa on Wednesday, with queues forming outside polling stations from Alexandra township to Ekurhuleni, driven by fury over sewage-filled streets, pothole-ridden roads and days-long water outages. The elections decided who leads eight major city municipalities, 44 district councils and 205 local councils. President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the turnout as "historic" after casting his own vote in Johannesburg.

The ANC, which fell below 50% nationally in 2021 and lost its parliamentary majority in 2024, is fighting on 546-party-crowded ballots for the first time alongside Jacob Zuma's MK Party.

Helen Zille, 75, is the Democratic Alliance's candidate for Johannesburg mayor, arriving at rallies atop a 'gusheshe' BMW and betting voters care more about broken services than race.

First-time voter Karabo Mogano, 21, from Alexandra put it plainly: 'When I got my first opportunity to vote, I didn't think it mattered — but you can see the kind of place we live in. Nothing works here.'