South Africa braces for what may be a milestone election. Here is a guide to the main players

FILE - Then African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela casts his vote on April 27, 1994 near Durban, South Africa, in the country's first all-race elections. South African politics has been dominated by the ruling ANC since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule 30 years ago but this month's election is expected to be a turning point for Africa's most advanced country.

South Africans don’t elect their president directly, but instead vote for parties that get assigned seats in Parliament according to their share of the ballot. Lawmakers then choose the head of state. Ramaphosa has tried to rebuild the reputation of the ANC by cracking down on government graft. However, unemployment has risen to 32% during his presidency — the highest in the world — while he has struggled to curb poverty. An electricity crisis has led to power outages across the country of 62 million due to failures at the state-run electricity supplier.

The DA entered a preelection agreement with smaller opposition parties, hoping their combined vote might clinch a majority and remove the ANC. But they would all have to increase their share significantly and it's seen as unlikely. The EFF has called for the nationalization of mines and the redistribution of land to poor Blacks. The party, which follows a Marxist ideology, says an economic inequality based on race persists decades after apartheid, with whites generally rich and Blacks still poor.

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