South Africa votes in local elections as results awaited

What happened

Polls opened at 7am on Wednesday and close at 9pm, according to Al Jazeera and CGTN ¹. Final results are expected on Sunday, both outlets report ². CGTN, reporting alone, said South Africans began voting on Wednesday in local government elections that will determine control of major cities, with failing public services, unemployment and crime among the key issues ³. France 24, reporting alone, described the vote as key municipal elections ⁴.

What is confirmed

Two elements are established by confirmed claims reported by both Al Jazeera and CGTN: polling opened at 7am and closes at 9pm ¹, and final results are expected on Sunday ². No confirmed claim in the ledger addresses turnout, party support or the outcome.

Where the accounts differ

CGTN frames the vote around the ANC's position, describing key local elections whose results are expected to indicate the country's political mood ahead of the next national election in 2029, following the ANC's loss of its parliamentary majority in 2024 ⁵⁶. It also foregrounds unemployment above 30% and unreliable water and electricity supplies as campaign issues ⁷.

European outlets foreground expected ANC losses and the grievances driving voters. The Financial Times, reporting alone, says the ANC faces a sharply reduced share of the vote ⁸. The Guardian, reporting alone, says the ANC is on course for a bruising result amid discontent over water outages, power cuts and crumbling services ⁹, and cites polls showing it getting less than a third of the vote ¹⁰. The BBC, reporting alone, says the ANC faces immense pressure to reverse years of decline ¹¹, while also reporting that President Cyril Ramaphosa denied his party was in a downward spiral ¹².

Al Jazeera centres the actions and words of Ramaphosa and Zuma and foregrounds turnout, noting that only 46 percent of registered voters took part in the 2021 municipal elections ¹³. It reports that Zuma told supporters 'We are going to start by taking back our country here' ¹⁴.

What is not known yet

Several figures rest on single outlets. A record 29.2 million people are registered to vote at 23,696 voting stations, reported only by Al Jazeera ¹⁵. The ANC fell below 50 percent in municipal polls for the first time in 2021, reported only by Al Jazeera ¹⁶. Ramaphosa is due to vote at Hyde Park High School, reported only by Al Jazeera ¹⁷.

The BBC alone reports that more than 500 parties are contesting ¹⁸, that the ANC got 70% in the 2004 general election and 40% two decades later ¹⁹²⁰, and that only 39 clean audits were given between 2024 and 2025 ²¹. It also reports alone that Ipsos predicts 25% support for the DA ²² and that Helen Zille said towns and cities that work best are under DA governance ²³.

The Guardian alone reports Johannesburg's population at 4.8 million, water shortages lasting more than a week, and 10 mayors in as many years ²⁴²⁵²⁶; 257 municipalities nationally ²⁷; three mayors in Ekurhuleni since 2021 ²⁸; and more than 800 gastrointestinal illness cases from contaminated water in Bronkhorstspruit ²⁹. The ledger leaves open turnout, the actual result and how coalition arrangements will form.

Why it matters

If the single-source polling figures hold, the ANC would enter these councils with a substantially smaller share than in previous contests ¹⁰⁸. This suggests the results could be read as a signal of the party's standing before the next national election in 2029, as CGTN frames it ⁵. Analysis: the emphasis on unstable coalitions and mayoral turnover in The Guardian's account points to service delivery as the arena where local outcomes are felt ²⁷²⁶. The confirmed timeline means no result will be settled before Sunday ².