“The population has the impression that they have been betrayed”: in South Africa, municipal elections at risk for the ANC

It’s a small park that he has cherished since his childhood. So he comes there every weekend to clean his little patch of lawn, and look with nostalgia at the remains of a stone waterfall which has dried up a long time ago. Barend Lombard created “I love Uitenhage”, an association of residents determined to restore the image of a once pretty town. “For the first time in ten years, I saw a family taking their wedding photos here,” he confides, rather proud. His mission is not finished. He still needs to patch the potholes in the roundabout that leads to his little oasis.

This Wednesday, November 4, nearly 30 million voters will have the opportunity to renew their municipal officials for five years. One of the main issues of this election is the electoral weight of the ANC (African National Congress), in power since 1994. Of the 257 municipalities in the country, the ANC holds the majority in 105 of them. But more than half are completely…