South Africa goes to polls

South Africans have started voting Wednesday in presidential and parliamentary elections amid issues of corruption and unemployment. The vote comes 25 years after the end of apartheid.

Hyderabad:South Africa starts voting in Presidential and parliamentary elections on Wednesday. Elections in S Africa are being held every five years since 1994 when the apartheid ended.

There are three main political parties in the fray - African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) - the fate of which will be decided by nearly 26 million registered voters. Currently S Africa is governed by ANC which has been in power since 1994.

Yet, the party that fought apartheid is racked with corruption and has failed to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. It has also failed to address the problem of land ownership where the minority whites own the majority of lands. The EEF makes this their main electoral issue.

South Africa poll facts

ANC is also accused of failure in reducing violence in the country. People are also unhappy over the poor services in essential matters like water, power, housing, etc.

Despite ANC's popularity having waned in the past years, it still enjoys the confidence of the majority of voters. Opinion polls say that ANC might get about 50% votes which, however, will be less by 12% than what ANC got in the last polls.