Not much time for victory celebrations - start work now!

The Times Editorial: The long queues at polling stations have become a familiar sight across South Africa since 1994. Yesterday was no different.

THE long queues at polling stations have become a familiar sight across South Africa since 1994. Yesterday was no different.

The patience, excitement and desire to participate in our democracy returned among citizens, who turned out to vote seemingly in significantly higher numbers than had been expected.

That the long queues are still around is testimony to the fact that most South Africans have not become disillusioned or blasé enough to discard the power of their vote.

And the general smoothness - apart from some protests and late starts - is largely due to the efficiency of the Independent Electoral Commission.

By late today, there will be a clearer sense of the results, particularly in metropolitan areas.

We will know whether the DA has managed to hold onto Midvaal, its only municipality in Gauteng, and whether the ANC has managed to negate some of the DA's power in Western Cape.

Then, the hard work is meant to start.

The DA, for example, has promised that it will honour the court judgment against it by providing toilets to the residents of Makhaza that do not infringe their dignity.

If the DA retains Western Cape, it should make good on its promise with haste.

But it is the ANC, the party that holds power in most municipalities, that must learn that empty election promises - housing, electricity and even toilets - will eventually turn off voters who have remained loyal to it since the first democratic elections.

To continue ignoring the concerns of residents of poor communities while protecting incompetent councillors can transform loyal supporters into disillusioned, angry citizens.

Voters kept their side of the political bargain by voting yesterday. The victorious political parties have five years in which to play their part - best they start as soon as the final election results are in.