South Africans will go to the polls on 22 April. The unofficial announcement was made on Tuesday by President Kgalema Motlanthe.
This is the day many citizens are waiting in anticipation for as it will illuminate whether or not the ANC has any real competition.
It will be the fourth democratic elections since 1994 and will highlight the progress made since the inception of our democracy.This years election season has been a tumultuous ride since former president Thabo Mbeki was called on to step down following allegations of interference in Jacob Zuma’s fraud and corruption trial.
We then saw current President Kgalema Motlanthe take office and the breakaway party COPE was formed, mostly comprising of former ANC members.
It will be an interesting result and we may get a better idea of what is in store for our new democracy by looking at the division of votes between the ruling ANC and its opposition.
The ANC is still expected to win the day but perhaps by a smaller margin than its previous landslide victories. ANC president Jacob Zuma still has to weather the storm of his current legal entanglement and all are wondering what the outcome will be as it will certainly affect the country and the world’s perception of South Africa.
Hopefully the rest of the election run-up is peaceful and free of violence. The election date still needs to be officially proclaimed, but it is not expected to change.
