South Africans go to polls in test for ruling ANC

South Africans went to the polls Wednesday for municipal elections in what could be the most closely fought test for the ruling African National Congress since it took power in 1994, when the apartheid state was dissolved.

The African National Congress (ANC) could lose the key cities of Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth in Nelson Mandela Bay, according to polls, the BBC reported.

The major southern city of Cape Town is run by the opposition Democratic Alliance, while the Economic Freedom Fighters, led by former ANC Youth League President Julius Malema, could also challenge the ruling party's dominance.

The elections follow recent protests over high youth unemployment and a five-month strike by platinum miners in 2014 that lost billions in revenue. About 26 million people are registered to vote.

"Where I live I don't have electricity and we use paraffin stoves to cook. We're struggling. For 22 years the ANC has been in power but nothing has changed," unemployed Philemon Mathebula, 35, of Johannesburg, told Reuters.

He said he switched allegiance to the Democratic Alliance.

President Jacob Zuma has been embroiled in various scandals during his seven years in office, including the more than $20 million of taxpayers’ money spent on updating his private home in Nkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

Last month, he was given 45 days to pay back more than $400,000 after the amount was approved by the country’s constitutional court.

"The vote will be a referendum on Zuma and the performance of his government on the national economy as well as the local level," said political analyst Nic Borain with BNP Paribas Securities South Africa, according to Reuters.

The next presidential elections are scheduled for 2019.