22nd April 2009
South Africans vote in a national election today with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) facing its toughest test since the end of apartheid 15 years ago.
South Africans have been queuing to vote in what is likely to be the most competitive general election since the end of apartheid 15 years ago.
The ANC is expected to achieve a fourth straight win but it could lose its two-thirds majority in parliament which allows it to change the constitution. The ANC defeated white minority rule in 1994 under Nelson Mandela and, if successful, will make its leader Jacob Zuma president weeks after he was able to get corruption charges dropped on a technicality.
But the party faces an unprecedented challenge from opposition parties hoping to capitalize on frustration over corruption, poverty and crime. If they lose their majority they lose their right to change the constitution and entrench its power further.
"We are entering a post-liberation era. People are talking about new issues and challenges and there's also a new generation that's not attached to the liberation struggle," said independent political analyst David Monyae.
Among its rivals is a new party, Congress of the People (COPE), formed last year by a group who split from the ANC after ex-President Thabo Mbeki was replaced as leader.
Some 20,000 polling stations are being used for more than 23 million registered voters. Polls close at 21.00 local time (19.00 GMT).
Shortly after the ANC president had cast his vote, South Africa's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, arrived at a voting station in Houghton, Johannesburg amid tears and ululations. The 90-year-old was greeted by a frenzied scene of photographers and journalists.
Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton is reporting on South Africa's general elections. She sent this update from downtown Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa
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