South Africa election count continues inclosest election for 30 years | BBC News

The counting of the votes has started in what is seenas South Africa's most closely fought elections sincethe African National Congress came to power 30 years ago.

Wednesday's election saw long lines of voters outsidepolling stations late into the night across the country.

The key issues for voters were widespread corruptionin government, high levels of unemployment and rampant crime.

A record 70 parties and 11 independents wererunning, with South Africans voting for a newparliament and nine provincial legislatures.

More than 27 million people were registered to casttheir ballots, including a high percentage of young voters.