South Africans are voting in the most competitive election since the end of apartheid, amid high turnout and with opinion polls suggesting the African National Congress may lose its parliamentary majority after 30 years in government.
Well after dark, voters were still forming miles-long queues to cast their ballots. Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said turnout "will be well beyond the 66 per cent we had in 2019".
The Electoral Commission said polling stations would stay open for anyone who was in line at the closing time at 9pm (1900 GMT). Two hours later, only 55 per cent of polling stations nationwide had closed.
"We are experiencing a late surge and are processing a large number of votes in certain areas, particularly the metropolitan areas," Mamabolo said.
First time voters in Cape Town eager to cast their votes as polls open. – Reuters
Voters cited high rates of unemployment and crime, frequent power blackouts and corruption in ANC ranks as reasons why they would vote for opposition parties.
"I grew up loving the ANC because of how they fought for the freedom we have today. That is why I voted for them all these years," said business owner Skhumbuzo Mnyandu, 48, who came out to vote in KwaMashu, a township close to Durban.
But this time Mnyandu said he was voting for uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party backed by former president Jacob Zuma.
Others, however, were wary of change.
Pensioner Charles Louw, 62, said he would remain loyal to the ANC as he distrusted the promises made by opposition parties to create jobs, end power cuts or crack down on crime.
"The ANC have been trying to do it, they are there, they have got experience, they know how to accommodate everything. But the new parties, where will they start?" he said after voting in Alexandra, a sprawling township east of Johannesburg.
The ANC 'must renew itself,' says former South African President Thabo Mbeki. – Reuters
Then-led by Nelson Mandela, the ANC swept to power in South Africa's first multi-racial election in 1994 and has won a majority in national elections held every five years since then, though its share of the vote has gradually declined.
Young voters who did not live through apartheid were particularly disillusioned with the ANC and the country's economic prospects.
"There's no jobs for the youth. We have degrees, but there's no getting jobs," said Nosipho Mkhize, a 28-year old – the median age in South Africa – explaining why he was voting MK.
If the ANC falls short of 50 per cent this time, the party will have to make a deal with one or more smaller parties to govern – uncharted and potentially choppy waters for a young democracy that has so far been dominated by a single party.
Voters are electing provincial assemblies in each of the country's nine provinces, and a new national parliament, which will then choose the next president.
With the ANC still on course to win the largest share of the vote, its leader President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to remain in office.
More than 27 million South Africans are registered to vote at more than 23,000 polling stations, with voting due to end at 9pm (1900 GMT).
South Africa's Robben Island voters revel in continuing Mandela's legacy. – Reuters
Turnout has steadily fallen since the start of the democratic era and is one of the key variables this time.
The election appeared to be going smoothly in most places, with 93 per cent of polling stations opening on time, according to Masego Sheburi, a senior official at the electoral commission.
Reporters witnessed isolated incidents, such as voters being turned away from a Johannesburg polling station because they were not registered to vote there, and in one Alexandra location voting was delayed for hours due to the late arrival of ballot papers.
After voting in Soweto, a huge township outside Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said the ANC had run a strong campaign.
"I have no doubt whatsoever in my heart of hearts that the people will invest their confidence in the African National Congress," he said.
People queue to cast their votes in Durban. – Reuters
John Steenhuisen, leader of the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) party, which won the second-largest share of the vote in the last election in 2019, urged voters to turn out in large numbers to bring change to South Africa.
"This is the most consequential election since 1994," he said after casting his ballot in Durban.
Other opposition parties hoping to loosen the ANC's grip on power include the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), founded by Julius Malema, a firebrand former leader of the ANC's youth wing.
The EFF wants to nationalise mines and banks and seize land from white farmers to address racial and economic disparities.
"We see ourselves overtaking the ANC, not the DA. The DA is small boys. We have no time for small boys," a typically combative Malema told reporters as he arrived to cast his ballot in Seshego, in the northern province of Limpopo.
"We're going for the real giant, which is the ANC. We are in an election to remove the ANC," he said.
Ballot papers await voters in Durban. – AP
Opinion polls suggest EFF support has been hovering between 10 and 12 per cent, far short of the ANC on 37-44 per cent, but Malema could find himself in position to be a kingmaker depending on the election results.
Zuma's new MK party looks set to eat into both ANC and EFF support, especially in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal where he has enduring influence despite being forced to quit as president in 2018 after a string of scandals.
The election commission is expected to start releasing partial results within hours of polling stations closing and final results within three or four days at most.
South Africans vote in what's been framed as their most important election since apartheid ended. – AP
How South Africa's election works
How does the electoral system work?
South African voters will go to the polls to elect a 400-member National Assembly, as they have done every five years since the end of apartheid in 1994. The lawmakers will then elect the country's next president.
Each political party will be allocated a number of seats in the National Assembly proportional to the number of votes it gets. In the last election the ANC had 57.5 per cent of votes, which translated into 230 seats.
What is the voting process?
Voting stations will be open on Wednesday, May 29 from 0500 GMT to 1900 GMT. Voters will receive three ballots.
The first ballot is national and will consist of a list of political parties vying for 200 seats in the National Assembly.
The second one is a "province-to-national" ballot, which will include parties and independent candidates seeking to represent each of South Africa's nine provinces in the National Assembly.
Lawmakers elected with this second ballot will take up the other 200 seats in the assembly, with each province allocated a number of seats based on the size of its population.
The third ballot will be to elect members of the provincial legislature in each province, and will also include parties and independent candidates.
How many people can vote?
The Independent Electoral Commission says 27.79 million people are registered to vote, up from 26.74 million in 2019. South Africa's population is around 62 million.
About 66 per cent of registered voters cast their ballot in 2019, down from 73 per cent in 2014. Turnout has declined since the early years of South Africa's democracy, and pollsters predict it will be even lower this year.
Who are the candidates?
A total of 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates will contest the national and provincial elections. The national ballot will have 52 parties listed.
The ruling ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is competing against opposition parties including the pro-business Democratic Alliance, the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters, and dozens of smaller parties.
When will we know the result?
South Africa's electoral commission normally starts releasing partial results within hours of the polling stations closing. The national picture will emerge gradually over the following days.
By law the commission has seven days in which to announce full results.
The last national election in 2019 was also held on a Wednesday, and the final result was announced on Saturday.
What happens next?
South Africa's constitution says that the National Assembly must hold its first sitting no more than 14 days after the election result has been declared.
At its first sitting, the National Assembly will hold a vote to elect one of its members to be the country's president. There can be several rounds of voting if no candidate wins 50% or more in the first round.
If no political party has a majority in the National Assembly, as polls suggest may be the case this year, two or more parties will have to team up to get the votes necessary to elect a president.
This has never happened before, as the ANC has always won an outright majority since the first multi-racial elections in 1994.