South Africa to vote next week
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality.
Officials will visit hospitals, retirement homes and other places to help about 300,000 people cast early ballots on Monday and Tuesday, ahead of election day, according to South Africa's election commission. Some people will also vote early at polling stations. Voting for South Africans abroad ended on Thursday with polling stations in London and Dubai having the largest turnouts.
South Africa has about 25 million registered voters, roughly half the population. The election this year has symbolic resonance because it comes 20 years after the country's first all-race vote which heralded the end of white-minority rule.
A South African woman talks on her mobile phone as she walks past a mural depicting the late former South African President Nelson Mandela, in the Soweto township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The African National Congress, which led the movement against apartheid and has dominated politics since the 1994 vote, has sought to woo voters with the narrative of what President Jacob Zuma says is "a good story to tell," citing improvements including the provision of housing, water and electricity to millions of people.
However, government corruption, crime and economic inequality have sapped some of the ANC's popularity, and opposition parties are seeking to capitalize on that discontent to make electoral gains. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, controls the Western Cape, one of South Africa's nine provinces, and hopes to make a strong run in Gauteng, the most populous province.
Another challenger is the Economic Freedom Fighters party, which wants to redistribute wealth and is run by Julius Malema, who was expelled from the leadership of the ANC's youth league.
The ruling party won two-thirds of the vote in 2009 elections. Its credibility has suffered in part because more than $20 million in state money was spent on upgrading Zuma's private rural home. The state watchdog agency concluded that Zuma inappropriately benefited and should pay back some of the money. Lawmakers in the ANC-dominated parliament delayed any study of the matter until after the election.
Posters depicting the late former president Nelson Mandela are lined up along a freeway in Johannesburg, Friday May 2, 2014. The country goes to the polls Wednesday May 7 as South Africa marks its 20th anniversary of democracy on Sunday. Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader became president in 1994 and died in December at the age of 95. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
Pedestrians walk past electoral campaign posters on a street in Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
An election poster of incumbent President Jacob Zuma is defaced in the downtown area of Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7 2014 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Mackenzie Ntsoseng, 24, a homeless man originally from Soweto township but who for the last 7 years has lived on the streets of the upmarket Rosebank neighborhood of Johannesburg, sits on a box after waking up on the street where he sleeps with a handful of other homeless people in front of a scooter store, in South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7 2014 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Mackenzie Ntsoseng, 24, a homeless man originally from Soweto township but who for the last 7 years has lived on the streets of the upmarket Rosebank neighborhood of Johannesburg, walks back to where he sleeps with a handful of other homeless people in front of a scooter store, in South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7 2014 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A man collects plastic bottles to make money, in front of a painted Election poster showing the face of South African President Jacob Zuma, on a wall in Nyanga township, on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Some thousands of people still are considered to live under the poverty line 20-years after the first democratic elections. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
Children play football in front of a mural of the African National Congress (ANC) proclaiming their achievements over the last 20 years, in the Soweto township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, May 2, 2014. South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 that are likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority due to voters disaffected by corruption in government and economic inequality. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A man that make a living by picking up plastic bottles walk past a graffiti image of a soccer ball, painted onto a wall in Nyanga township on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Some thousands of people are considered to still live under the poverty line 20-years after the first democratic elections. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
A cook holds a sheep's head in a fire to barbeque it to sell to customers at a local market in Nyanga township on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Many thousands of people still live under the poverty line 20-years after the first democratic elections. The sheep head is a traditional food stuff, first boiled in water and then cooked on an open fire. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
Woman cook meat to be sold direct to the public at a local market in Nyanga township on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Some thousands of people still are considered to live under the poverty line 20-years after the first democratic elections. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
A cook holds a sheep's head in a fire to barbeque it to sell to customers at a local market in Nyanga township on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Many thousands of people still live under the poverty line 20-years after the first democratic elections. The sheep head is a traditional food stuff, first boiled in water and then cooked on an open fire. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
