JOHANNESBURG - Ballot counting was under way after South Africans queued long into the night to vote in a watershed election.
Counting began in each voting station shortly after polls closed, in some cities long after the planned 9pm Wednesday shutdown, with long queues of voters snaking into the night.
The final result is not expected to be known before the weekend.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said a last-minute rush in urban voting and high turnout were to blame for Wednesday's late finish, but many voters complained at polling stations that the three-ballot system was too complex.
"We are experiencing a late surge and are processing a large number of voters," IEC chief Sy Mamabolo told reporters, predicting that the final turnout figure would be "well beyond" the 66 percent recorded in the last election in 2019.