Cape Town - Good Party leader Patricia de Lille cast her ballot at Pinelands Primary School in Cape Town early on Wednesday as heavy rains hit the Mother City and made for a slow start to voting.
"We must never give up hope. There is a lot of things wrong in our country but we have to rise to the occasion to fix it and Good has a plan to fix that," De Lille told reporters, who shortly before had outnumbered voters at the polling station.
De Lille said she was confident of her party's plan to fix South Africa's problems.
"I'm thinking about all South African families, the whole South African family heading to the polls today. And we all have one thing in common, we are hoping for a better future for our children and for ourselves after the elections", she told journalists.
"For us, it's the first time we are participating. Any votes or any seats we get will be a victory."
Musician and singer/producer Alistair Izobell, who joined politics and De Lille's party earlier this year, accompanied her at the voting station.
Izobell said: "It is going to be a good day voting."
Just a handful of people voted shortly after the polls opened at 7am.
De Lille, the former DA mayor of Cape Town, resigned after her relationship with DA leaders soured and she was accused of corruption.
In December last year, she started the Good party. It is her fourth political home. Analysts predict her messy departure form the DA could cost the party dearly in Wednesday's vote.