South Africans vote in national and provincial elections on May 29 that could test the African National Congress' 30-year rule.

After the vote, held every five years, the new National Assembly will choose the country's next president from among its members.

Below are facts about the election and the voting process.

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Voting is under a proportional system where parties and candidates are competing for 400 seats in the National Assembly.

Parties on the national ballot will contest 200 of those seats while the other 200 are divided between the nine regions and contested by parties and independent candidates.

In provincial legislatures, the number of seats is determined on the basis of the size of the population in each of the nine provinces.

THREE BALLOTS

For the first time, voters will receive three ballots instead of two on voting day. On each ballot, they will have to choose one party or one candidate.

Two ballots will be used to elect the National Assembly and the third one will be for election of members of the provincial legislature in each province.

CANDIDATES

For the first time, independent candidates are allowed to compete for seats in the National Assembly and in provincial legislatures.

In total, the election commission cleared 14,889 candidates who will contest 887 seats in the forthcoming elections.

They were nominated by 70 political parties, except for 11 candidates who are independent.

A total of 31 political parties will contest the national elections for the first time.

VOTERS

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says 27.79 million people are registered to vote, up from 26.74 million in 2019.

VOTING

Around 23,292 voting stations will be open on May 29 from 0500 GMT to 1900 GMT.