South Africans voted in local elections on Wednesday amid deep discontent over water outages, power cuts and crumbling infrastructure, with the African National Congress (ANC) on course for a bruising result.

Polls show the ANC getting less than a third of the vote, down from 45.6% at the last municipal elections in 2021 and 40.2% in the 2024 national elections. Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. and closed at 9:00 p.m. local time (0500 and 1900 GMT). Parties are battling for control of major cities in a contest expected to offer a measure of the national mood before the next national polls.