On Wednesday, South Africans voted in a national election to elect their lawmakers, a process that precedes the election of the president by parliamentarians.
The election exercise started at 7 a.m. and would end by 9 p.m. as voters decided who would be their national and provincial lawmakers. 

In the South African national election, voters elect parliamentarians who will later elect on behalf of the people who will become the president.

28 million registered voters out of South Africa’s 62 million citizens will decide the fate of political parties winning majority seats in the Parliament. 

The African National Congress (ANC) party, South Africa’s ruling party since 1994, is facing its toughest challenge in this year’s election, which will determine whether it will continue to win majority seats and eventually produce the next president. 
Major challengers in the election are former President Jacob Zuma of the uMkhonto we Sizwe party and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighter party.