By Farouk Chothia:
The first results have been announced from what is seen as South Africa’s most closely fought elections since the African National Congress (ANC) came to power 30 years ago.
With results from around 14 percent voting districts counted so far, the ANC was leading with 43 percent, followed by the DA with 26%.
The radical EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) of former president Jacob Zuma are both on around 8 percent.
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Final results are expected over the weekend.
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Opinion polls suggest the ANC could lose its majority in parliament for the first time in 30 years, forcing it into a coalition.
The ANC has lost support due to anger over high levels of corruption, crime and unemployment.
But it is too early to predict the final outcome.
Wednesday’s election saw long lines of voters outside polling stations late into the night across the country.
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One electoral official in Johannesburg told the BBC the queues were reminiscent of the historic 1994 election, when black people could vote for the first time, and which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Many thousands of people were still waiting to vote when polls officially closed at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) but the electoral commission said they would all be allowed to cast their ballots.
Sifiso Buthelezi, who voted in Johannesburg’s Joubert Park—the biggest polling station in South Africa—told the BBC: “Freedom is great but we need to tackle corruption.”
Change has been a recurring sentiment, especially among young voters.
Ayanda Hlekwane, one of South Africa’s “born-free” generation, meaning he was born after 1994, said despite having three degrees he still does not have a job.
“I’m working on my PhD proposal so that I go back to study in case I don’t get a job,” he told the BBC in Durban.
But Hlekwane said he was optimistic that things would change.— BBC
