South Africa: The ruling African National Congress was on the verge of a landslide win yesterday as millions of South Africans flocked to their third democratic election in a decade, writes Declan Walsh in Johannesburg.
Maids and millionaires queued patiently from early morning at polling stations across the country, ranging from shanty town tents to plush suburban town halls.
"The big day has come," said President Thabo Mbeki as he cast his vote in Pretoria. He could afford to be relaxed - pollsters predict the ANC will take between 65 and 72 per cent of the vote, depending on turnout.
Its massive popularity highlights both the failure of a fractured opposition and the continued gratitude of non-whites for an end to racist white rule a decade ago.
"This is my first time voting, and I still remember when Nelson Mandela was released. That was a real act of freedom," said Auxilia Maomel (22) a after casting her vote in South Hills, a rundown Johannesburg suburb.
Across the city voters cheered when 85-year-old Mr Mandela, a national hero to both whites and blacks, arrived to cast his vote.
"I feel elated that I can be able to assert my right as a citizen. And I sincerely hope that the whole world will abandon violence and use peaceful methods of asserting their rights," he said.
But for many poor voters, the sheen of South Africa's democratic miracle is starting to wear thin. While the ANC has introduced a phalanx of impressive reforms, including free housing and water for millions, the country remains plagued by sky-high unemployment, crime and an unparalleled HIV/Aids pandemic.
Yesterday, thousands queued to vote at Marathon, a squatter camp on a disused gold mine near Johannesburg. Patrick Nyhudu stood near the top of a line that snaked through a maze of tin-and-cardboard shacks and into a tent being used as a polling station.
The jobless man was livid because his nine-year-old daughter had been raped last Friday. The culprit, a 20-year-old neighbour, had admitted the crime. "He said he did it twice. Twice!" said Mr Nyhudu. "I took him straight to the police, otherwise the community would have killed him." The ANC "lacked action", he said, and so he was voting for one of the smaller opposition party.
Others were simply disillusioned. Outside a shack near the rear of the line, 22-year-old Viwe sat on a stool having her hair done. "I don't believe in voting, it can't bring changes," she said. "I can't get a job, and neither can most people I know."
However, in more affluent areas, black voters were more enthusiastic about Mr Mbeki.
Nurse Patricia Mafatle listed the benefits of liberation as she walked to the polling station. "A private house, my children go to private school and 24 of my relatives have been given government houses," she said.
The main question now is which of the smaller opposition parties will fare best. The main challenger is the Democratic Alliance, which scored 10 per cent of the vote in 1999 but has had trouble shaking its image as a white-dominated party.
Its leader, Tony Leon, has signed an unlikely electoral pact with the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party of Dr Mangosuthu Butehelezi to boost his appeal.
In some areas the DA has canvassed hard among so-called coloureds who feel marginalised by the black-led government. Beverly Grace, a 36-year-old electronics worker from South Hill, said South Africa had gone from "bad to worse" under the ANC.
"Okay, under apartheid I wasn't allowed in public toilets or first-class train carriages, but we were brought up in that system. Now there is freedom, but jobs have moved overseas, and hospitals and schools are closing down," she said.
In the upmarket Mulbarton neighbourhood, Allen Denham said he had been "fearful" after the end of apartheid but is now positive about the future. But now it is whites who are suffering discrimination, he complained. "White men can't get jobs these days. Affirmative action should have stopped a couple of years ago."
By evening there were no reports of violence in the IFP stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal, the scene of mass violence a decade ago and one of just two provinces where the ANC faces a genuine battle. However, the IFP leadership warned it may reject the vote if there is evidence of rigging. "We have serious concerns about the dark clouds of electoral fraud," said chairman Lionel Mtshali.
If it wins over two-thirds of the vote, the ANC will be able to amend the constitution at will, prompting worries that South Africa is becoming a de facto one-party state. Casting his vote in Cape Town yesterday, Nobel prizewinner Archbishop Desmond Tutu dismissed the fears. "We have in place many institutions which will guard against abuse of power," he said.
The first results were due late last night. The incoming president, almost certainly Mr Mbeki, will be inaugurated on April 27th.
Snapshot: Five voters give their views on the new South Africa
Stephen Nale (40) car dealer
"The first vote in 1994 was emotional. This time it's about making sure the correct government is in place. From now on the ANC will be judged in terms of what they have done. I would give the government eight out of 10. And credit must be given to the white minority because they embraced the new government.
I think Thabo Mbeki needs another term to complete what he has promised."
Leslie Abrahams (37) panel beater
"The white man is made to suffer because of past deeds. I'm not white, but my race group \ was seen as part and parcel of the problem. Hence we are seen as co-conspirators. What Mr Mugabe is doing openly is what they want to do here.
Standards have dropped in all aspects of our lives. That's why I wish to visit the Australian embassy. The main problem is incompetence."
Ida Khumalo (33) domestic worker
"I work in a white household. Much has changed since 1994 but there are problems. For example, my family still lives in a shack because they cannot find a house.
I will vote for the Democratic Alliance [opposition party]. It's better that government goes back to the white people because there is no work. Thabo Mbeki is a good leader but he has failed on things like Aids. A lot of people are dying but they can't get the medicines."
Matthew du Toit (18) factory worker
"I want to see if it \ is going to bring any changes. Otherwise I'm not going to bother next time. I've just left school. Kids from different races got on all right, but sometimes there was a lot of fights. We swear at each other and insult each other's mother. I work in a fridge factory and I really struggled to get this job. When one of my black friends went to get the same job, he got it first and I had to wait."
Cynthia Simango (22) student
"It's much easier for me to get a job now than under apartheid. If it was then maybe I would be cleaning in a white man's house, but now I can sit in an office if I want to. I think the ANC government is doing its best. On HIV/Aids, they have introduced condoms, and it's a personal choice if you use them or not. Concerning race, I think both sides are making an effort to make it work. But I don't think all whites have accepted the changes."