Helen Zille targets Johannesburg in bid to break ANC hold on South Africa's largest city
Voters chose among ANC, DA, and MK Party candidates to select council members who will determine the next mayor of a city plagued by water and power failures.
By Beatriz Soto ·
South Africans cast ballots on Wednesday to select officials for 44 district councils and 205 local councils across the country. The vote also determines leadership for the eight main city municipalities. For millions of residents in Johannesburg, the outcome hinges on who controls the city council that appoints the mayor.
Johannesburg serves as the economic hub of South Africa and is often cited as the richest city in Africa. The municipality has changed mayors five times in the four years since the last local election in 2021. The city is currently led by a fragile coalition headed by the African National Congress. The Democratic Alliance, the country's second largest party, seeks to take control of the city.
The Democratic Alliance nominated Helen Zille, its former national leader, for the mayoral race. Zille, who is 75 years old, campaigned with a focus on the city's infrastructure failures. She performed public stunts to draw attention to service gaps, including snorkeling in a flooded road trench and rowing an inflatable boat through a pond formed by a water leak. These actions occurred in a city with a population of approximately 5 million.
Voters do not vote directly for mayors. They elect council members who then choose the mayor. Small parties frequently act as kingmakers in these local government coalitions. The African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority in national elections in 2024. It now shares a national unity government with the Democratic Alliance and other parties, though the two groups remain fierce rivals at the municipal level.
This election marks the first local vote for the MK Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma. Zuma resigned as president in 2018 following corruption allegations. He was expelled from the ANC in 2024 for founding the new party. The MK Party became the third largest party in Parliament during the 2024 national elections. It holds strong support in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Public dissatisfaction with water and electricity supplies drives much of the voter sentiment. High unemployment and corruption also remain top issues. A national debate over immigration has intensified in recent months. Groups protesting illegal migration have criticized President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government. Several parties have made opposition to undocumented migration a central part of their local campaigns. The country has a population of 62 million people.
The ANC won less than 50% of the vote in the 2021 local elections. That result marked the first time the party fell below the majority threshold since the end of apartheid in 1994. The 2024 national election ended the ANC's 30-year hold on a parliamentary majority. Ramaphosa was reelected president despite the loss of the majority.
