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South Africa's local elections pose crucial test for ruling ANC South Africa's local elections pose crucial test for ruling ANC
(about 1 hour later)
Polls have opened in closely contested municipal elections in South Africa that could deal a heavy blow to the African National Congress, which has ruled since leading the struggle against apartheid. South African voters are going to the polls for municipal elections that pose the first real challenge to the ruling ANC party since it swept to power following the end of apartheid.
Nelson Mandela’s former party risks losing control of key cities including the capital Pretoria, the economic hub Johannesburg and coastal Port Elizabeth, according to some opinion polls. A feeble economy, unemployment rates of 26% and corruption scandals that have dogged the president, Jacob Zuma, have all eroded the appeal of the once unbeatable party of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.
Development in South Africa has been patchy since Mandela won the first multiracial elections in 1994, with many black communities still struggling with poor housing, inadequate education and a lack of opportunities. Polls before Wednesday’s elections suggested the party could lose control of three of South Africa’s main cities, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and the greater metropolitan area around the capital Pretoria.
With the economy stalling and unemployment hitting record levels, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) hope to secure big gains. Those areas alone are home to over 8 million people, and bring influence over annual budgets of around $10bn (£7.5bn).
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Voting began at 7am (0500 GMT), with queues forming in cold winter conditions outside some polling stations in central Johannesburg. Beyond the loss of financial and political power, a defeat at the polls would be a profound psychological shock to many in the party who believe that its leadership of the decades-long struggle against apartheid has given it a permanent mandate to rule.
“The Democratic Alliance is on the cusp of achieving something incredible and historic,” Mmusi Maimane, the DA’s first black leader, said on the eve of the election. The ANC’s secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, recently told supporters that the party had been “anointed by God”, and compared its past leaders to biblical figures.
“The ANC has drifted from our original democratic project. They are venal, corrupt and flashy.” Its main rival is the Democratic Alliance, once seen as a party of liberal, middle-class whites, now for the first time running under a black leader, Mmusi Maimane. It already controls Cape Town, where it has a reputation for competent management, and is hoping to expand its powerbase ahead of national elections in 2019.
The president, Jacob Zuma, retains widespread support, especially in rural areas, and the ANC’s patronage network and deep coffers could help it maintain a hold in the majority of the 278 municipalities. The DA has promised to liberalise the economy to stimulate growth in a country that has stagnated since the 2008 financial crisis, cutting red tape and making it easier to hire and fire workers.
But Zuma has been weakened by a series of corruption scandals, court cases and dire economic data – including an unemployment rate of 27% and a forecast of 0% GDP growth this year.
“The ANC has failed dismally. After 1994, it promised heaven on earth – we are still waiting,” Mlungiseleli Kwanini, 60, an unemployed casual labourer in Port Elizabeth, said.
“There are no jobs, there is a lot of crime and corruption, and no service delivery [of electricity and water].”
Kwanini said he had still not decided how he would cast his ballot, but added he was reluctant to vote for the DA because of the party’s reputation as the home of middle-class whites.
“They can campaign saying nice things, but whites treated us badly during apartheid,” he said.
Related: Soweto uprising 40 years on: the image that shocked the worldRelated: Soweto uprising 40 years on: the image that shocked the world
The final polls by Ipsos showed the DA ahead in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and in a close fight in Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg. The ANC also faces a new challenge from the Economic Freedom Fighters, a party with a more radical agenda led by ex-ANC firebrand Julius Malema. It is standing for the first time in local elections on a platform that includes promises to nationalise mines and redistribute land without compensation.
The results, most of which are expected on Thursday, may pile pressure on Zuma to step down before his second term ends in 2019 when the national elections are due. If the ANC performs badly on Wednesday, it may put pressure on Zuma to step down before his term officially ends in 2019. He has already faced calls to resign, including after a recent court finding that he spent government money on improvements to his private home.
“I am confident that we are going to do very well,” Zuma said, at the end of a bitter and racial-tinged campaign in which he accused DA supporters of believing that black people could not lead the country. The constitutional court ordered him to repay over half a million dollars to the state. Critics also say he has been too close to a wealthy business family of Indian origin, with several senior politicians alleging that the Guptas were involved in senior cabinet appointments.
Adding to the uncertainty is the revolutionary socialist EFF party, which has not stood in municipal elections before and has drawn large crowds to its rallies. Many South Africans hope that even if the ANC does manage to scrape back to power in most of the country, the very real threat of defeat might serve as a push for cleaner and more effective rule.
“The ANC is an organisation in crisis,” said its firebrand leader, Julius Malema, on Tuesday. “They have run out of ideas. We are killing them.” “We are now entering an era where you cannot predict the outcome of the elections. This never used to be the case,” Prince Mashele of the Pretoria-based Centre for Politics and Research told AFP.
The ANC expelled Malema in 2011 for poor discipline. “There is an element of unpredictability [that may] inject an element of accountability in the political system ... We are dealing with a situation of an angry electorate.”
The EFF, which won 6% of the vote in the 2014 general election, advocates land redistribution without compensation and the nationalisation of mines. Polling stations close at 7pm local time, but results will not start coming in until the early hours of Thursday, with the preliminary totals expected around 24 hours after polling stations close.
“If ANC lose some big metros, it will be a dire situation for President Zuma,” Judith February, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies, said. The campaign has been marred by violence, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, an ANC stronghold where several activists and candidates have been attacked or murdered, and others have gone into hiding. The police have created a special task force to investigate the attacks.
“It would be hugely symbolic to lose Nelson Mandela Bay or Johannesburg – cities of black workers. But we should never underestimate the ANC.”
February said a close result could open a period of “tricky and messy” coalition building.
Voters are choosing mayors and other local representatives responsible for hot-button issues including water, sanitation and power supplies.
A record 26.3 million people are registered to vote, but low turnout may be a factor more than two decades after the euphoric 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandela to power.