South African Ruling Party Faces Key Test in Municipal Vote
- ANC aims to win back urban areas that it lost five years ago
- Ipsos poll shows support for ruling party dropping below 50%
Photographer: Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images/Getty Images
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South Africa’s ruling party faces an uphill battle to regain control of key towns in Monday’s municipal elections, with widespread outrage over poor services and crumbling infrastructure.
The election of councilors in the 278 municipalities is the first since President Cyril Ramaphosa won control of the African National Congress in 2017 and set about trying to rebuild support for the party, which plummeted during his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s scandal-marred rule.