JOHANNESBURG : Free Polls, at Last
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South Africans of all races go to the polls today, Wednesday and Thursday in the first election in which the black majority can vote after nearly 350 years of white-minority rule.
The African National Congress is expected to win a majority among the more than 25 contesting parties. Its leader, Nelson Mandela, jailed for more than a quarter of a century by the white regime, would thus become president of South Africa’s first post-apartheid government.
Security will be tight to guard against violence, which scarred election campaigning in Natal and has broken out in Johannesburg in the last few days. A heavy turnout is expected at the 9,000 polling booths throughout the country. The electorate will vote for the parties of their choice, not individuals.
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