(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) hannesburg May 08 - Polling stations in South Africa closed Wednesday in front of the voters participating in the fifth general elections in the country since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
Ruling African National Congress (ANC) has taken an early lead in the general election partial results show.
With 25% of votes counted the ANC had 57.3% of the vote followed by the Democratic Alliance on 29.2%.
The ANC is widely expected to return to power although analysts say anything less than 60% of the vote for the party will be seen as a major upset.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was in third place with 4%.
The electoral commission said voting passed peacefully in most areas according to the (BBC).
Turnout was just over 72% with about 25 million people registered to vote in 22000 polling stations across South Africa.
The elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela.
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