Voting to choose the next President of South Africa opens today (May 8) at 7 am (0500 GMT) and will close 14 hours later at 9 pm local time (1900 GMT).
It is South Africa’s sixth general elections since returning to democracy post-apartheid era 25 years ago. Political analysts have called it the biggest elections in the country since the dawn of democracy. Some 26.8 million voters are registered to cast votes at 22,925 polling stations.
While a number of parties are competing in the election, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are the main contenders. The ANC, which led the fight against apartheid, has governed South Africa since 1994.
The voting early results will be out on Thursday while the official winner will be declared on Saturday. The party that wins most seats in parliament will select the president, who will be sworn in on May 25.
The ANC, which has won all the past five elections, is almost certain to win again this time despite corruption scandals, sluggish economic growth, and record unemployment. However, the party’s reputation has been ruined in the last 10 years because of a stream of scandals under former President Jacob Zuma. He was forced to resign in 2018 and is currently on trial on corruption charges. Zuma’s replacement, Cyril Ramaphosa, has a cleaner image though.
According to opinion surveys, the ANC is likely to secure just over 50 percent of the vote on Wednesday, owing to the Ramaphosa effect and weak and fragmented opposition. The DA is forecast to get about 20 percent of the votes, reported BBC.
“The ANC will pull another majority,” said political scientist Collette Schulz-Herzenberg from Stellenbosch University. “It might be a reduced majority. It reflects the weakness of the opposition, more than it does reflect the achievements of the ANC.”
