South Africa: Dwindling support for ANC amid service delivery chaos

With less than two weeks to go to South Africa’s municipal elections, several recent polls have shown dwindling support for the African National Congress (ANC).

Frustration at the lack of service delivery saw it win just over 40 per cent in the 2024 national vote, forcing it to accept a coalition government.

Outside the wealthy neighbourhoods of Johannesburg, anger at lack of services like water or electricity has led many to say they will not be voting.

In Katlehong, outside the city, thick cables snake along footpaths in an area where 180 households have relied on illegal electricity connections for more than 20 years.

We have made a collective decision: no electricity, no vote," said Lesiba Rankapole, a community leader in the township.

"We know it is illegal, but we had no choice because we cannot live without electricity," he said of the wires that take power from another area of Katlehong.

"Our children cannot progress without electricity."

It is "obvious we are not going to vote, especially for the ANC", said another resident, Enock Majola, who pointed out illegal dumping sites.

"I was born ANC, but today I do not want anyone to tell me about the ANC because I am suffering," he said.

In Alexandra, another township near Johannesburg, uncollected refuse piles up as sewage flows down the street, while many residents don’t have access to running water.

Like in other communities across the country, mismanagement and corruption is feeding disillusionment with ANC-led  municipalities.

"The reason why I'm not voting, it's because I don't believe in our government. The reason why I don't believe in them is because they have disappointed us, countless of times," said resident Sipho Mandala.

Elsewhere in Katlehong, a man has been digging in a yard in an attempt to reach a blocked pipe at a house surrounded by sewage.

Although he is angry, he admits that if he did make it to a voting station on 4 November – he will still vote for the ANC, the party of liberation.

At the heart of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, the party of jailed liberation hero-turned-president Nelson Mandela took nearly 70 per cent of the national vote in 2004.

It fell below 50 per cent for the first time at the last municipal elections in 2021, when it won 46 per cent of votes and retained control of nearly half the municipalities.

Political analysts like Sethulego Matebesi say municipal elections do generally attract low turnout.

But he believes the vote will give parties an "idea of where their support base is" as they look towards the 2029 national poll.

Of the 257 councils up for grabs, the fight for control is particularly intense in Johannesburg, an economic dynamo of more than 4.8 million people.

"The ANC has been governing for years, but we have not seen any changes in Alexandra," said maintenance worker Patrick Saohatse.

He said he would give his vote to the liberal Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the ruling coalition after the ANC.

Already in charge of the country's second city Cape Town, the DA has pushed hard on ANC service delivery failures and mismanagement in a campaign that started more than a year ago.

"Another five years of corruption and collapsing infrastructure will push our city beyond recovery," said mayoral candidate Helen Zille, at a recent rally.

Less than two weeks before polling day, the ANC was yet to choose its candidate amid lacklustre campaigning.

"If you look at the situation in and around Johannesburg, there are reasons for people not to be happy," the party's head of elections, Mdumiseni Ntuli said.

Analysts say it is likely that no party will win an outright majority in many municipalities, forcing them to form coalitions which are often fragile, further undermining service delivery.