Ballot counting commenced on Thursday after South Africans queued late into the night to cast their votes in a pivotal election that could bring an end to the ANC's three-decade-long unchallenged majority since the end of Apartheid
The final results are not expected before the weekend, but observers will closely analyse turnout figures and partial results to predict whether the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has finally lost its parliamentary majority.
Polling stations opened at 7am local time (5 GMT) on Wednesday, with voters queuing at some locations well before that.
During the campaign, many voters expressed disappointment and frustration with high rates of unemployment and crime, frequent power blackouts, inequality, and corruption.
President Cyril Ramaphosa voted at the Hitekani Primary School in the vast township of Soweto near Johannesburg.
"Given the state of the nation, it's important that the country should participate in terms of determining the future," he said after voting.
"The ANC has been saying it must renew itself.So the ANC must do that. It's important because the ANC has a very important role to play in terms of the future of the country".
Dissatisfaction
The elections went well, Goodluck Jonathan, who is leading an observer mission for the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy for Africa, said
"The contest this year was tough," he added. "The struggle is...tougher and more challenging for even the bigger parties.
If the ruling ANC does not obtain 50 percent of the votes, it will have to make a deal with one or more smaller parties to govern, which would be a first in South Africa.
"It's a turning point," Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a populist far-left political party," said.
"It's a point where our country will make serious inroads. The voter will decide which direction we are going as a country. So we should be able to see some changes [after] these elections."
Zandile Maphumulo, 54, who has been unemployed since 1995 says the vote is an opportunity to offer young people a better future.
"I'm feeling good because I voted for the party that I love, that I believe will make a change in my life," he said, speaking in isiZulu. "I would love to see people find work, for children graduating from university to find work and not to have them sitting around with us old people."
Higher participation
South Africa voter turnout is expected to be higher than in 2019, according to the Election Commission (IEC) of South Africa.
Turnout has dropped over the years as disenchantment with the ANC has set in.However, the possibility of change is attracting voters again.
"I arrived early before the station opened," independent election observer Maubate Kekana said, at Sandton Fire Station in an affluent business district in northern Johannesburg.
"And it was really quite a big queue outside. So really hoping that there's a big turnout during the course of the day."
A low voter turnout scenario could see between 41% - 43% of registered voters heading to the polls. Medium turnout scenario the voter turnout rate may be between 57% - 59%. On the high end, as many as 74% - 76% of registered voters could cast their ballots https://t.co/Y1Z5G7zwwW pic.twitter.com/lGiKOLq3eH-- Ipsos in South Africa (@Ipsos_SA) May 4, 2024
In the afternoon, in the Eastern Cape, five voting stations had to close because people protesting over service delivery issues, the IEC's district electoral officer Kayakazi Magudumana said.
Presidential election
Voters elect their new national parliament which will then choose the next president, but also provincial assemblies in each of the country's nine provinces.
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The pro-business Democratic Alliance, which won the second-largest vote share in 2019, has formed an alliance with several smaller parties to try to broaden its appeal.
The party is running the rich province of the Western Cape, but hope to make a difference this year in the ANC strongholds of Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal.
If the ANC wins the largest share of the vote, its current leader Ramaphosa is likely to remain president, but he could also face an internal challenge, if the party's performance is worse than expected.
"A new system with tiers of governance between local, provincial and national powers is coming about," Gareth Stevens, vice-chancellor of the University of Witwatersrand, told RFI. "It's a challenge but also a potential for positive change."
The IEC has seven days to announce final results.
(with newswires)
