Record number register to vote in South Africa

A record number of South Africans have registered to vote in the upcoming general elections in their country, with a million-man surge in registration over the weekend, organizers say.

A record 25.3 million South Africans registered to vote for the May elections, with more than one million people signing up over the weekend, the Independent Electoral Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

The count follows disruptions over the weekend in areas gripped by community protests over established political parties, which critics say have failed to improve the conditions of many poor South Africans.

In some areas, people were prevented from registering, while a registration station in a township west of Johannesburg was petrol-bombed.

South African President Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC), which has been in power for two decades, has come under fire for rising poverty and unemployment in the country. Zuma himself has also lost popularity amid corruption allegations.

However, estimates suggest that the ANC will probably manage to win the elections again despite discontent among its poverty-stricken grassroots supporters.

Zuma, who has served as the president of South Africa since 2009, is also expected to run for a second term in office in the forthcoming vote.