(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Johannesburg, August 03 (QNA) - South Africans are going to the polls for local elections in a ballot seen as a test for President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
The ANC has dominated the political landscape since the first all-race elections in 1994.
But Zuma has had to weather scandal, after being ordered to repay taxpayers' money spent on his private home, according to the (BBC).
Polls show the ANC may lose three key cities in Wednesday's poll - Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
The ANC, at one point the main anti-apartheid party, is under pressure from two parties - the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters, who are competing in their first local elections under firebrand leader Julius Malema.
The economy is one of the main issues as people vote, with growth expected to be 0% this year, and unemployment at 27%.
Protests demanding better housing and amenities have also sprung up across South Africa. The vote comes a month after South Africa's treasury recommended President Zuma pay back $509,000 to the government for upgrades made to his private home.
It came after the country's highest court ruled earlier this year that Zuma repay some of the $23m of public funds spent on his house in 2009, ruling that he had violated the constitution by earlier failing to repay some of the money.
The upgrades included an amphitheatre, pool, chicken run and cattle enclosure.
The next presidential elections are due to take place in 2019. (QNA)