JOHANNESBURG – Piles of uncollected rubbish, cratered roads and raw sewage flowing through streets have driven voters in a working-class township near Johannesburg to abandon their decades-long loyalty to the ANC, handing the opposition Democratic Alliance its first victory in a black township ward.

The DA’s breakthrough in the May by-election in Evaton West, 50km south of Johannesburg, signals a potential shift in South African politics as the country heads toward crucial municipal elections in November. For the DA, the country’s second-largest party, the win suggests it may finally be shedding its image as a white party and gaining traction among black voters.

The result saw the DA take just over 32% of votes, double its 2021 performance, whilst the ANC slumped to just under 32%, down from more than 50% five years ago. The DA said it was the first time the party had won a ward in a 100% black township.

“We are definitely rewriting history,” said Kingsol Chabalala (48), the DA’s mayoral candidate for the Emfuleni municipality that includes Evaton West. “The propaganda that is put out there, that the DA is a white party, is fading away.”

‘We can’t live like we are animals’

For residents of Evaton West, the decision to break with the ANC came down to basic survival needs. “We can’t live like we are animals,” said Lesedi Lesejane, a resident who voted DA for the first time. “They cry for our votes but we don’t get service delivery.”

The collapse in municipal services reported in Evaton West mirrors conditions across South Africa, where the ANC won majorities in 161 of 213 councils in 2021. Nationally, the party of Nelson Mandela took just 46% of votes that year, dipping below 50% for the first time since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

Motsepe (25), a first-time voter, said the contrast between ANC-run and DA-run areas influenced his choice. “Our roads are bad. Almost every morning, we don’t have water. I have seen in some places where the DA is governing that they have water and electricity.”

Barthman (65), a longtime ANC supporter, said he had reached breaking point. “But I just could not vote for it anymore. We are desperate for better services.”

ANC calls result a ‘wake-up call’

When journalists visited Evaton West, municipal workers were repairing a road that residents said had been potholed for years. ANC mayor Hassan Mako (37) rejected suggestions the work was election-related.

“It is a wake-up call for the ANC,” Mako said of the Evaton West loss, calling it “not the beginning of the end”. He added that a decision by the South African Communist Party, the ANC’s historic partner, to contest municipal polls independently had “weakened our election machinery”.

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The DA has launched an aggressive campaign for Johannesburg, the country’s most prized mayoral seat, fronted by veteran politician Helen Zille (75). The campaign highlights the deteriorating state of Africa’s richest city whilst pointing to the DA’s management of Cape Town, where some areas enjoy comparatively better services. Critics note that poorer Cape Town communities say they are neglected as the party focuses on its white support base.

Beyond apartheid-era loyalties

Local government expert Susan Booysen said Evaton West may indicate that South Africans are moving beyond political loyalties forged during the anti-apartheid struggle. “They are voting in desperation for services instead of party identity just to escape the dire living circumstances we know are so widespread.”

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However, she cautioned that “these are early days and that is just one ward amongst several hundred”, adding it will not be easy for the DA to “shake off being called a white party”.

Political analyst Dirk Kotze characterised the result as more an ANC defeat than a DA victory. “The DA will use the win as part of their campaign but if you analyse it, they won with eight votes. It was a very tight contest.”

Kotze warned the DA also faces potential losses in areas it already governs where voters have not seen improvements, particularly regarding unemployment. “Local politics has become more about local interests and who can improve the quality of people’s lives,” he said.

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