People wait in long lines to cast their vote at a polling station in Auckland Park on May 29, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.JOHANNESBURG — South Africans voted Wednesday at schools, community centers, and in large white tents set up in open fields in an election seen as their country’s most important since apartheid ended 30 years ago. It could put the young democracy into unknown territory.
Africa’s most advanced economy has some of the world’s deepest socioeconomic problems, including one of the worst unemployment rates at 32%. The lingering inequality, with poverty disproportionately affecting the Black majority, threatens to unseat the party that promised to end it by bringing down apartheid under the slogan of a better life for all.
Any change in the ANC’s hold on power could be monumental for South Africa. If it does lose its majority, the ANC will likely face the prospect of a coalition with others to stay in government and keep Ramaphosa as president for a second term. The ANC having to co-govern has never happened before. That’s largely because disgruntled South Africans are moving to an array of opposition parties; more than 50 will contest the national election, many of them new. One is led by South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma, who has turned against his former ANC allies. Zuma was disqualified from standing as a candidate for Parliament but his MK Party is still contesting and is the wild card.