South Africa is President Cyril Ramaphosa's office announced on Tuesday night that national and local elections will be held on May 29.
The election is expected to be the most competitive since the end of apartheid.
Political analysts widely predict that the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994 due to record power outages, poor service delivery and high levels of unemployment among voters.
South Africans will elect new parliaments and state assemblies in each of the country's nine provinces before parliament elects the president.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has fixed the date for the 2024 general and local elections as 29 May 2024, pursuant to section 49(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, reading section 17 of the Electoral Act 1998 https : //t.co/xt4caT2LNX pic.twitter.com/Z9Av5i87Xb
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) February 20, 2024
Ramaphosa, 71, is seeking re-election for a second term as president. He has struggled to significantly boost economic growth since taking over from Jacob Zuma in 2018.
“The 2024 elections coincide with South Africa's celebrations of 30 years of freedom and democracy,” Prime Minister Ramaphosa's office said in a statement.
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“President Ramaphosa therefore calls on all voters to fully participate in this important and historic milestone in our democratic calendar.” — Anit Mirjanian, (c) 2024 Reuters