South Africans began voting on Wednesday in the most competitive election since the end of apartheid, with opinion polls suggesting the African National Congress (ANC) would lose its parliamentary majority after 30 years in government.

Then led by Nelson Mandela, the ANC swept to power in South Africa's first multi-racial election in 1994 and won a majority in national elections held every five years since then, though its share of the vote has gradually declined.

In Wednesday's election, voters choose the 400 members of the National Assembly and these MPs will then go on in the coming weeks to choose a president from among their number.

Candidates for South Africa's nine provincial assemblies were also on the ballot.

If it falls short of a 50 percent majority, the ANC could be forced to negotiate a coalition deal with one or more of the smaller parties in order to continue governing.

Analysts expect the ANC to do well enough to remain the largest party in parliament,
meaning its leader, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, was likely to stay in office, unless he faced an internal challenge if the party's performance was worse than expected.

Voter dissatisfaction over high rates of unemployment and crime, frequent power blackouts and corruption in party ranks lies behind the ANC's gradual fall from grace. (Reuters)