Voting begins in South Africa to elect next government

In its sixth election since the end of Apartheid rule, South Africa today is all set to test the popularity of the African National Congress that has been ruling the country since its independence in 1994.

Polling stations opened fornational elections in the country on Wednesday with around26.8 million voters registered to cast ballots at 22,925 polling stations.

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The ANC is tipped to win but with a reduced majority and the result will reveal whether its new leader, President Cyril Ramaphosa, can reverse growing resentment among South African voters.

Support for the ANC has fallen in every election since 2004 with the party winning just 54 per cent in 2016 local elections, compared with 62 per cent in the last national vote in 2014.

The main opponents in the battlefor power in South Africa areCyril Ramaphosafrom the ruling ANC,Mmusi Maimane from the Democratic Alliance (DA) which is also the main opposition party in South Africa andJulius Malema from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party.

The leaders of the three main parties are vying for votes in a race that could test the ruling ANC's long-held dominance.

The land is a highly emotive issue in South Africa, where the bulk of productive agricultural land has remained in white hands since the end of apartheid in 1994. A farm industry group and government argue over exactly how much land is in black hands.

That land was forcibly taken from black people during the colonial and apartheid eras.

Under pressure from the far-left EFF and more radical elements in the ANC, Ramaphosa last year launched a process to change the constitution to make explicit provision for land expropriation without compensation

The three main political parties have all put job creation at the heart of their campaigns with around 27 per cent of South Africans unemployed in the fourth quarter last year.

(With inputs from agencies)