While some voters know who they'll be casting their ballots for on Wednesday's elections in South Africa, others are still undecided.
Analysts told VOA that parties like the DA, the IFP , and a few others have strong core support bases in certain ethnic groups and certain regions. Those prospects were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the world at a global level and exacerbated high levels of inequality in South Africa, Lloyd Kuveya from the University of Pretoria told VOA earlier this year.
Glaser, Kuveya and other analysts told VOA that anger over power outages, allegations of corruption, and disunity within the ANC - the liberation movement that once led the struggle against racism and oppression by the country's white minority rule - have helped the opposition gain ground. That includes the Economic Freedom Fighters party led by Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader, and a newly formed party, for which former president Jacob Zuma has been campaigning.
South Africa's unemployment rate has reached 32% according to the World Bank, making it issue No. 1 for many voters, including Kathryn Defenn, who told VOA,"our biggest challenge as a country is our rate of unemployment, which is one of the biggest in the world."