South Africa votes

Polls opened early Wednesday morning in South Africa, in a general election that is widely expected to hand the ruling African National Congress (ANC) its fifth consecutive victory since the fall of apartheid in 1994.

Up to 25 million South Africans are expected to vote, including first time voters from the "Born Free" generation. However, out of the 1.9 million voters born after 1994, only one in three is registered.

Over the past two months, South Africa's Sunday Times opinion polls have put ANC support at around 65 percent, which is only slightly lower than the 65.9 percent it won in the 2009 election that brought President Jacob Zuma to power.

Amid high unemployment and a lingering recession, the party's campaign has relied heavily on past anti-Apartheid glories and on the outpouring of grief over the death of its former leader Nelson Mandela.

President Zuma's personal approval ratings have dipped since the country's top anti-graft agency accused him of "benefiting unduly" from a $23 million (16.5 million euros) state-funded security upgrade to his private home in Nkandla.

The 72-year-old president, however, brushed aside suggestions the probe was damaging the party.

"The people are not worried about it. I think the people who are worried about it is you guys, the media, and the opposition," he said at a news conference this week.

The ANC's nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, has been gaining ground since polling 16.7 percent nationwide in 2009. However, the party does not have mass appeal as it is still seen as the political home of privileged whites.

Also in the opposition is the ultra-leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, who has called for banks and mines to be nationalized. However, the party is likely to have minimal impact, with polls putting its support at 4-5 percent.

Polls opened at 0500 UTC and close at 1900 UTC.

hc/jr (AFP, AP)