High voter apathy as SA local elections approach

By Nomsa Maseko

As South Africans gear up for local elections on Monday, voter apathy remains high.

These are the polls where citizens vote for local-decision makers for their communities, the people and parties who will lead their specific municipalities, mayors as well as their ward councillors.

Yet a third of eligible South Africans still haven't registered to vote and hundreds of identity documents belonging to eligible voters are waiting to be collected from government offices, according to the electoral commission and home affairs department.

But this hasn’t deterred political parties and independent candidates who’ve been hard at work, canvassing for votes.

The governing ANC faces its toughest test since the end of apartheid, promising to reform itself after recent corruption scandals and infighting.

No-one expects the ANC to lose these elections but a reduced majority is seen as likely. This could lead to a drastic change in the balance of forces as possible coalitions take centre stage.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance which currently runs 24 municipalities is looking to expand its footprint.

However Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters and the newly formed ActionSA led by Herman Mashaba, a former Johannesburg mayor, are expected to win big.

This article originally appeared in BBC News.

Photo: Getty Images