Millions of South Africans voted in nationwide elections that are expected to see the ruling African National Congress return to power despite a vigorous challenge from opposition parties. For the first time, the electorate included a so-called "born free" generation, with birthdays after apartheid rule in South Africa ended in April 1994.
South Africans Vote in Nationwide Elections
១
Results released by the national election commission showed the African National Congress with about 58 percent and the opposition Democratic Alliance with 28.5 percent after about 3.6 million votes had been counted in the May 7, 2014 general election, Independent Electoral Commission Results Center, in Pretoria, South Africa, May 8, 2014.
២
Early results of South African elections are displayed on an electric board at the Independent Electoral Commission Results Center, in Pretoria, South Africa, May 8, 2014.
៣
The country goes to the polls in the fifth democratically held election since the end of apartheid. Seen in this photo, South Africans queue to cast their votes at sunset near a polling station in the Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៤
ANC party members check voters before they enter the polling stating in Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៥
The South African president and leader of the African National Congress (ANC), Jacob Zuma, casts his vote in Ntolwane, rural KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៦
A woman, with her thumbnail marked with indelible ink to prove that she has voted at a polling station, picks up her identity book in Eden Park, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៧
Voters dance and sing in the early hours while holding up their identification documents as they queue to vote at a polling station. The station was burned down overnight in the politically sensitive mining town of Bekkersdal, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៨
South Africans queue to vote as mounted police provide security near a polling station that was burned down overnight. A tent was erected to replace the station in the politically sensitive mining town of Bekkersdal, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
៩
A mother casts her vote at a polling station in the Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
១០
Women sit and wait in queue to cast their votes at an informal settlement in Soweto, South Africa, May 7, 2014.
១១
South African opposition leader Helen Zille, second from left, from the Democratic Alliance, raises her hand during a rally in Rocklands, on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, May 6, 2014.