South Africans queue up to vote in post-Nelson Mandela polls

May 08, 2014 02:48

Millions of South Africans today turned in extremely high numbers braving the threats of disruption and sporadic violence to exercise their franchise in an election widely expected to return the ruling ANC to power, 20 years after anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela first took power in 1994.

About 25 million registered voters - roughly half the population - trickled into some 22,263 polling centres across the country from before dawn to exercise their right to vote in the fifth all-race elections.

Under the proportional representation system, South Africans voted for parties, not candidates, in two simultaneous ballots for national and provincial governments.

Independent Electoral Commission chair Pansy Tlakula said the sheer number of voters who had turned out in South Africa's cities was causing some logistical problems.

"The most pressing challenge we are facing at the moment is the extremely high turnout at voting stations, especially those in urban and metro areas where long queues continue to be experienced," she said.

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