South Africans vote in closely contested local polls
August 3, 2016, 4:11 pm

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa, on Aug. 3, 2016 [Xinhua]

The polls opened at 7 a.m. and are scheduled to close at 7 p.m., with final results expected to be announced on August 6.

26.3 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots at 22,612 voting stations countrywide.

Africa’s most industrialized country is struggling with diverse challenges, including promises to create jobs and address poverty.

The South African central bank anticipates zero per cent growth this year. The jobless rate among black people aged 20-24 stood at almost half, according to latest figures.

Ahead of the polls, President Jacob Zuma told black voters to support the ANC and denounced the DA — which is widely seen as a party of middle-class whites — as the “spawn” of the apartheid government.

The ANC also released a statement last week calling the DA a “white supremacist party” and slammed it for invoking the name of former president Nelson Mandela at its rallies and in election adverts.

“The DA is a haven for racists, and its upper echelons dominated by individuals who hark back to the days of apartheid,” the statement said.

The DA, in turn, said it represents Mandela’s legacy better than the ANC party that he led in the struggle against apartheid.

Divisions along racial lines remain strong in the country 22 years after Nelson Mandela came to power and vowed to achieve national reconciliation following the end of white-minority rule.

“To vote is important… If you are a citizen, you are in this country, you want this country to develop, you have got to use your vote as an instrument to help the country move forward quicker,” South African President Jacob Zuma told the national broadcaster SABC on Wednesday after casting his vote.

At a press briefing on Wednesday evening, Chief Electoral Officer Mosotho Moepya said voting stations will remain open “until everybody votes”.

According to an opinion poll by the research company Ipsos released on Tuesday, the ANC could slip below 60 per cent.

TBP and Agencies