South Africans go to the polls today in national elections
which the ruling ANC party, in power since 1994, is the favourite to win
despite corruption scandals and sluggish economic growth and record
unemployment.
The ANC has won all the past five elections, but today's
vote is set to be an electoral test on whether the party has staunched a
decline in popularity.
The party is tipped to win the vote, but with a reduced
majority and the result will reveal whether its new leader, President Cyril
Ramaphosa, can reverse growing resentment among South African voters.
Ramaphosa took over from scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma, under
whose leadership the ANC saw the most significant drop in support since 1994.
He acknowledged on the eve of the election that "we
are humble enough to admit our mistakes. We have taken decisive steps to fight
corruption."
The election comes 25 years since Mandela led the African
National Congress (ANC) to power in the country's first multi-racial ballot,
which marked the globally-celebrated end of apartheid rule.
Support for the ANC has fallen in every election since 2004
with the party winning just 54 percent in 2016 local elections, compared with
62 percent in the last national vote in 2014.
Ramaphosa, 66, took office last year when Zuma was forced
to resign as president by the ANC after a nine-year reign dominated by
corruption allegations and economic woes.
Most opinion surveys suggest the ANC will secure nearly 60
percent of the vote on Wednesday, thanks to the Ramaphosa effect and a weak and
fragmented opposition.
"The ANC will pull another majority. It might be a
reduced majority," said political scientist Collette Schulz-Herzenberg
from Stellenbosch University.
"It reflects the weakness of the opposition, more than
it does reflect the achievements of the ANC," she added.
The pro-business moderate Ramaphosa is a former
anti-apartheid activist and trade union leader who was Mandela's apparent
favourite to succeed him as president.
After being outmanoeuvred in that race, Ramaphosa instead
became a wealthy entrepreneur before serving as Zuma's vice president.
The ANC has been confronted by deepening public anger over
its failure to tackle poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa.
The economy grew just 0.8 percent in 2018 and unemployment
hovers at a high of nearly 27 percent, rising over 50 percent among young
people.
Corruption, especially in state owned companies became
almost endemic under Zuma.
"In a normal country the ANC should be losing the
election on the 8th (of May)," said University of Witwatersrand senior
lecturer Lumkile Mondi.
Of the 47 opposition parties in the race, only the main
opposition centrist Democratic Alliance (DA) and the radical-left Economic
Freedom Fighters (EFF) are major players.
The DA which hopes to shed its image as a white,
middle-class party as its first black leader, Mmusi Maimane, fights in his
first general election since he took the helm in 2015, is expected to make
marginal gains from the 22 percent it won 2014.
But the radical leftist EFF, founded just six years ago by
a former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, is predicted to make major inroads,
growing from 6.3 percent to a forecast 11 percent.
The party, which appeals mainly to young voters and the
poor, has centred its election campaign on its policy of seizing land from
largely white owners to give to poor blacks.
Few incidents marred the starting of special votes in
Mpumalanga yesterday when communities closed roads leading to voting stations
demanding service .
..
Wednesday's provincial elections will also measure ANC
fortunes, with the party in a close fight with the DA for control of Gauteng,
which includes the capital Pretoria and the economic hub Johannesburg.
Some 26.8 million voters are registered to cast ballots at
22,925 polling stations. Polls open at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and close 14 hours
later.
Early results will emerge on Thursday with an official
winner declared on Saturday. The party that wins most seats in parliament
selects the president, who will be sworn in on May 25. Sowetan
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