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Today, 04 July 2009

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Yesterday, 03 July 2009

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Some 21 million voters are registered to vote on Wednesday in South Africa's third all-race elections since the end of apartheid 10 years ago.

Voters will elect representatives to the 400-seat National Assembly and to the legislatures of South Africa's nine provinces.

Here are some facts about the elections:

Voting:
Voters will cast ballots at some 17 000 voting stations around the country, from 7am (0500 GMT) to 9pm (1900 GMT). They will elect members of parliament based on party lists and not individual candidates.

A total of 37 parties are running in the elections including 21 parties who are fielding candidates only to the National Assembly.

Current makeup of the parliament:
President Thabo Mbeki's African National Congress (ANC) party holds 275 seats in the 400-member National Assembly. It won 266 seats in 1999 and bolstered its strength with defectors from opposition parties.

Trailing far behind is the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), with 46 seats, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 31 seats and the New National Party (NNP), with 20 seats. The NNP is the successor to the National Party, for decades the backbone of the apartheid regime.

The African Christian Democratic Party has seven seats and the United Democratic Movement four followed by a string of other smaller parties who have fewer than four seats.

These are: the Freedom Front (3), the United Christian Democratic Party (3), the Federal Alliance (2), the Pan Africanist Congress (2), the Minority Front (1), the Azanian People's Organisation (1), the Independent Democrats (1), National Action (1), African Independent Movement (1), Alliance for Democracy and Prosperity (1), Peace and Justice Congress (1).

Election of the president:
The president is to be elected by the new parliament on April 23.

Mbeki is expected to win a second and final mandate. The presidential inauguration is scheduled for April 27, coinciding with celebrations marking a decade of democracy in South Africa.

Provincial vote:
Voters will also choose representatives to the nine provincial legislatures. The two most hotly contested provinces are KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, where the ANC is seeking an all-out majority.

Turnout:
The participation rate in the 1999 elections was 89.3 percent. Electoral officials say they expect turn-out to be higher this time around.

Results:
The counting of ballots starts immediately after polling stations close. First results are expected to be made available by the Independent Electoral Commission in the evening.

AFP