South Africans vote in local elections amid anger over poor services and expectations that the ANC's grip will weaken
South Africans voted in local elections on Wednesday amid anger over water outages, power cuts and crumbling infrastructure. The Guardian says the ANC is likely to remain the largest party but polls put it below a third of the vote, down from 45.6% in 2021 and 40.2% in the 2024 national election; Reuters expects its grip to weaken further.
Our outlet list is not evenly split: about 50% left-rated, 15% centre and 35% right-rated, so raw splits lean left by construction. Blindspots are tested against each side's own share. About our sample.
Left 0 · Centre-left 5 · Centre 4 · Centre-right 0 · Right 1
Blindspot for the right (barely covered by right-leaning outlets)
ContextSources by leanVideoDeep diveFollow the moneyMore coverage
How each side framed it
Right-leaning outlets
Right-rated outlets headline it: “South Africans Vote in Local Elections That Could Continue the Decline of the Once-mighty ANC” (Newsmax).
Centre outlets
Centre-rated outlets headline it: “South Africans vote in local elections that could continue the decline of the once-mighty ANC” (The Hill); “ANALYSIS | Anti-DA sentiment running high in ANC as SA goes to vote” (News24).
Left-leaning outlets
Left-rated outlets headline it: “ANC faces anger over poor services as South Africans vote in local elections” (The Guardian); “South Africans vote in local elections that could continue the decline of the once-mighty ANC” (Associated Press).
Context
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Sources by lean
Balanced: the same number of articles from the left, the centre and the right (up to 3 each). The bar above still counts every rated outlet we found. Bias and factual ratings come from Media Bias/Fact Check. How we balance · All ratings.
Right 1
Centre 1
- The Hill
South Africans vote in local elections that could continue the decline of the once-mighty ANC (paywalled or blocks bots)
Showing 1 from each side of 10 rated outlets (L 5 / C 4 / R 1). Capped at 1 because that is all we found on the thinnest side. More coverage
Video
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Deep dive
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Try it: open one right and one left article in Sources by lean and note what each takes for granted.
Follow the money
Not yet researched. We haven't yet looked at who gains or loses financially from this story, or who funds the main voices on each side. When we do, we check company filings, the Electoral Commission donations register, lobbying registers, annual reports, InfluenceMap and OpenSecrets, and we apply the same checks to every side. How we follow the money.
Who owns or funds the outlets covering this story (8 outlets)
| Outlet | Lean | Ownership & funding (MBFC) |
|---|---|---|
| Associated Press | Centre-left | The Associated Press (AP) is a nonprofit news cooperative with a profit of $1.6 million in 2016. It also sells content to other media organizations. According to an article titled “ AP reports loss on one-time accounting charges,” t he Associated Press lost $74 million in 2017, and it states the reason as “mostly due to one-time accounting charges related to the federal tax overhaul passed late last year.” source |
| Bloomberg | Centre-left | Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP (The parent company of Bloomberg News). According to Investopedia, Bloomberg Terminal (remote software used to access financial information) is the most expensive among financial data providers. source |
| Deutsche Welle | Centre-left | The German government funds Deutsche Welle (DW). They state, “DW is financed via funding from the state – i.e., from tax revenue. This is in contrast to the domestic public channels, which are funded via broadcasting fees.” source |
| The Guardian | Centre-left | The Guardian and its companion publication, the Sunday newspaper The Observer, are owned by Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). Scott Trust Limited was created in 1936 to ensure the editorial independence of the publications and owns Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). source |
| Washington Post | Centre-left | In 2013, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million. Bezos is a frequent target of Trump, who has accused the businessman of using the Postal System as its “ Delivery Boy. ” The newspaper’s executive editor, Martin Baron, said Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, is not involved in its news coverage. source |
| News24 | Centre | Media24 owns and publishes News24.com. They publish several magazines, newspapers, and online publications in South Africa. Advertising and subscription fees generate revenue. source |
| The Hill | Centre | In 2021, The Hill was purchased by Nexstar, which owns around 200 TV stations and media outlets nationwide. The founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Nexstar is Perry A. Sook. source |
| Newsmax | Right | Newsmax is owned by publicly traded Newsmax Inc., which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NMAX on March 31, 2025. The company completed a $75 million public offering after previously raising approximately $225 million through a preferred-stock offering. source |