People in South Africa started voting as of 07.00 local time for the 7th general election in the country’s 30-year history of democracy.
People in the Republic of South Africa are going to the polls to elect 400 deputies in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and members of the legislative assemblies in 9 provinces. The voting process, which started at 07.00 local time for the 7th general election in the country’s 30-year history of democracy, will continue until 21.00. More than 27 million registered voters will be able to cast their ballots at 23,292 polling stations. With 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates competing in the election, the first results are expected to be announced at night. The final results are planned to be announced on Sunday, June 2.
National Assembly elects head of state
In South Africa, the head of state is not elected by the people, but by a simple majority vote in the National Assembly. Parties get seats in parliament according to the number of votes they receive, and MPs elect the head of state after the election. The African National Congress (ANC), the party of Nelson Mandela, the country’s first democratically elected President in 1994, when the apartheid regime, a discriminatory and racist political system, ended, has had a majority in parliament for 30 years. However, opinion polls show that the ANC, led by current President Cyril Ramaphosa, will fail to win an outright majority for the first time.
