On 18 May, millions of people will be lining up to cast their votes. This municipal election will be the fourth held in a democratic South Africa. The first democratic municipal elections took place in 1995/6 while the first IEC run municipal elections took place in 2000.

The current ruling party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), has faced a growing opposition from the Deocratic Alliance (DA) in the past couple of years. The DA currently holds control of the Western Cape with Cape Town as its capital city. The DA has set their sights on Pretoria and is positive about their chances of winning control of the city.

Perdeby held an interview with the current leader of the DA, Helen Zille who said that the DA can win 'if every last DA supporter votes for them.' Brandon Topham, the mayoral candidate for the the DA, said: 'We have a very, very, very good chance of winning.'

The ANC would like to expand their control in certain areas while also maintaining its dominance in others. This will be a challenge for them given the questions posed by opposition parties regarding their service delivery, corruption, healthcare reform, poverty and unemployment rates.

On 28 February the ANC released their manifesto. In this document the ANC promises to build local economies, create more employment, decent work opportunities, sustainable livelihoods, improve local public services and broaden access to them. They also promised to build united, non-racial, integrated and safer communities and promote more active community participation in local government.

President Jacob Zuma wrote in his introduction to the manifesto: 'Our manifesto is affordable, realistic and achievable.'

The Congress of the People (COPE) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) will probably also be determined to increase their municipal control.

Zille, who has campaigned extensively over the last few months, is attempting to improve her party's Cape Town success and also curb the ANC's majority support in other major cities. Initial reports suggest that Port Elizabeth may be the most vulnerable ANC stronghold, with Pretoria, Johannesburg, Ekuruleni and almost all municipalities in the Northern Cape facing opposition from the DA and COPE.

This year over one million potential new voters have registered to vote in the 18 May local goverment elections and a total of 2 731 967 people re-registered to vote.