JOHANNESBURG : Free Polls, at Last
South Africans of all races go to the polls today, Wednesday and Thursday in the first election in which the black majority can vote after nearly 350 years of white-minority rule.
The African National Congress is expected to win a majority among the more than 25 contesting parties. Its leader, Nelson Mandela, jailed for more than a quarter of a century by the white regime, would thus become president of South Africa’s first post-apartheid government.
Security will be tight to guard against violence, which scarred election campaigning in Natal and has broken out in Johannesburg in the last few days. A heavy turnout is expected at the 9,000 polling booths throughout the country. The electorate will vote for the parties of their choice, not individuals.
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