Despite a weekend skirmish that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) interpreted as a sign of weakness by the ANC, the ruling party appeared confident of victory in Rustenburg's ward 19 by-election.
Last Saturday, a rally by the EFF to introduce Thembi Thekiso, an independent candidate it is backing in the by-election, was disrupted when scores of ANC supporters occupied the Paardekraal community hall before members of Julius Malema's party got there. The EFF had to hold its rally outside but was emboldened by the incident. Several of its members said it was a clear sign that the ruling party felt threatened.
By lunchtime on Wednesday, polling day, women dressed in ANC Women's League regalia and yellow Jacob Zuma T-shirts were gathering at a corrugated iron structure close to the unit 13 health centre voting station for what appeared to be a celebration.
"The women are in their blouses to show that we have worked hard in this ward," said the provincial women's league chairperson Jane Manganye. "People have a right to come up with a storynyana [little story] to score points but we're not scoring points because we [as women] bear the burden if there are no services."
The storynyana Manganye referred to was an allegation by EFF members that several people living in the neighbouring ward 38 were in fact voting as ward 19 residents in an effort to boost ANC numbers.
Although the allegations were unproven, an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) official explained that, technically, it was possible to cheat at the registration stage, as addresses, such as in the case of informal settlements, were not always possible to verify. He also said the verification process was rudimentary as it relied on information given by those registering.
Ward 38 includes a large informal settlement said by locals to be an ANC stronghold. Ward 19 consists of areas such as Paardekraal (extensions one and three), Sunrise View, Million Dollar and Boitekong extension 23.
Mineworkers approached by the Mail & Guardian would not disclose how they would vote but one said that, at their workplace, his colleagues were joining the EFF in large numbers.
In at least two of the province's wards (28 and 33), independent councillors who were former ANC Youth League members have joined the EFF and have begun recruiting for the party. The EFF, by backing Thekiso, who could not register as an EFF candidate as the organisation was still being formed, is hoping to repeat the feat.
According to the IEC's website, ward 19 has 8668 registered voters and the ward was represented by an ANC councillor.
It became vacant after he resigned, apparently because he is a government-employed schoolteacher and is not allowed to draw two salaries.
Other parties contesting the elections are the African People's Convention (APC) and the African Christian Democratic Party.
The APC's Mabel Ndaba said she would be happy if any party other than the ANC won the by-election as the party had become complacent.
Residents of extension 13 complained that schools were too far away and that the electricity supply was unreliable because of illegal connections in the nearby informal settlement.
However, at the Paardekraal hall, the scene of last week's stand-off, Solly Kgampe, a stocky man wearing a South African Communist Party cap and a South African Municipal Workers' Union jacket, said the ANC was guaranteed a victory because it had delivered in ward 19, pointing to a sea of RDP houses in Boitekong's extension 23.
The by-election results were expected on Thursday.