This archive report was first published on 1 November 2021.
South Africa's local elections, scheduled for Monday, are expected to be a significant test for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, which has been facing growing discontent among voters.
The ANC, which has governed South Africa since the country's transition to democracy in 1994, has been marred by corruption scandals, including one linked to coronavirus spending, and economic woes, including a recession and high unemployment.
According to polls, a majority of voters could turn against the ANC for the first time, with some 10,000 troops deployed to secure the vote in four hotspots, including the most populous province of Gauteng and the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where July's riots started.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been campaigning across the country, with his team focusing on key battlegrounds in Gauteng, home to the capital Pretoria and financial hub Johannesburg, which the ANC lost for the first time in the last local elections in 2016.
Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe have also joined the Gauteng campaign trail, with Mbeki warning business leaders that if the ANC "fails the country will fail".
Meantime, the opposition is fractured, with the main Democratic Alliance forming unlikely coalitions with the radical left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters, but struggling to provide effective governance.
A record 1,700 of the 60,000 candidates in Monday's races are independents, reflecting disenchantment with the mainstream parties.
The outcome of the elections will set the scene for general elections in 2024.
