The voting process, which started at 07.00 local time in 23 thousand 696 centers for approximately 29.2 million registered voters in the country, will end at 21.00. According to South African Electoral Commission (IEC) data, 136 thousand 790 candidates are competing for a total of 10 thousand 526 council seats in 257 municipalities across the country.
Council members of 8 metropolitan cities, 44 districts and 205 local municipalities will be determined in the elections.
In local elections, voters will use two separate ballot papers in metropolitan cities and three separate ballot papers in other local municipalities.
Mayors will be determined by the municipal councils that will be formed after the elections.
The first results are expected to come in the night hours, and the final results are expected to be announced on Sunday, November 8.
VOTERS' EXPECTATIONS FOR CHANGE
Tasha, who voted in Cape Town, reminded that blacks, mixed-races and South Africans of Indian origin were deprived of the right to vote during the apartheid period, and said that participating in elections is an important part of a democratic society.
Stating that she wants to see a change in South Africa where political administrators are accountable, Tasha said, "I hope for the formation of a society in which politicians have to act in the interests of the South African people rather than their own interests."
Tasha said, "Actually, one of the important reasons why I vote is not only to create change, but also to change the factors that determine the behavior of politicians and the way politicians think in our country."
South African voter Sophia stated that these elections are important for citizens to have a greater say in local governments.
"I believe that these elections can give ordinary citizens a greater say in how the areas they live in are governed. As citizens, we must have a say in how resources are spent and distributed," Sophia said.
Touching on her expectations from local governments, Sophia said, "I want political party leaders to manage our resources more responsibly and ethically."
CRITICAL CHOICE
The African National Congress (ANC), the party of the country's first black President Nelson Mandela, lost its majority in the parliament for the first time, receiving 40.18 percent of the votes in the 2024 general elections, after being in power alone for 30 years, starting from 1994, when the apartheid regime ended.
In the last local elections held in 2021, the ANC lost its majority in many municipalities by falling below 50 percent of the votes.
Opinion polls released in September and October show the Democratic Alliance (DA) in first place in the country's largest city Johannesburg, the legislative capital Cape Town and the executive capital Pretoria, and the Spear of the Nation Party (MK) led by former President Jacob Zuma in Durban.
The November 4 local elections are of critical importance in terms of evaluating the political balances in metropolitan cities, possible coalitions to be formed in municipalities, and the political positions of the parties in the national coalition government governing the country.
