Polls closed in South Africa on Wednesday after nationwide elections almost certain to keep the ruling ANC in power despite anger over corruption scandals, sluggish growth, and record unemployment.
The election is the first measure of whether President Cyril Ramaphosa can reinvigorate support for a party whose backing flows largely from its liberation credentials, but now faces the prospect of a reduced majority.
Polls opened at 7am with about 26.8 million voters registered to cast their ballots at 22,925 polling stations countrywide and voting passed off largely without incident, officials said.
Preliminary results will emerge on Thursday, with an official winner declared on Saturday.
Unemployment and corruption allegations
Anger over corruption, the economy and land reform are key issues as South Africans vote in the sixth democratic election since Apartheid ended 25-years-ago.
The African National Congress, or ANC, that led the fight against Apartheid, governed the country since 1994 - but it’s become increasingly unpopular after a long list of ANC officials were accused of corruption and mismanagement amid economic woes.
In South Africa, the economy is stagnating, the national debt is worrying, unemployment is officially at 27 per cent and more than one in two young people are without jobs
