Long queues as South Africa votes with ANC rule in balance

Johannesburg: South Africans queued late into the night to vote on Wednesday, forcing polling stations to remain open beyond closing time in a landmar...

Johannesburg: South Africans queued late into the night to vote on Wednesday, forcing polling stations to remain open beyond closing time in a landmark general election, with the ruling ANC fighting to protect its three-decade-long grip on power.

More than 27 million voters were registered for the most uncertain poll since the African National Congress led the nation out of apartheid.

Most polls started to close at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) but thousands were still waiting in line after nightfall in some big-city voting stations, with electoral officials vowing everyone would get their chance.

With opposition challenges from both the left and right, unemployment and crime at near-record levels and a new generation growing up with no memory of the struggle against white-minority rule, the ruling party may lose its absolute majority and be forced to share power.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said it projected turnout to go "well beyond" the 66 percent recorded in the last election in 2019.