South Africa will hold national and local elections on May 29 to coincide with celebrations of 30 years of freedom and democracy, the Office of the President has announced.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is said to have discussed this date with the Electoral Commission.
The President also convened a meeting with all state chief ministers and committees to discuss preparations for the elections.
Voters will elect a new Congress and state legislature in each of the country’s nine states.
Each political party is allocated seats in the 400-member parliament based on the percentage of votes it receives in elections, and the members of the parliament elect the president.
Mr Ramaphosa is seeking a second term as president.
His African National Congress party faces stiff competition in the election.
Opinion polls show the party could lose its absolute majority and fall below 50% for the first time in South Africa’s 30 years of democracy.
South Africa held its first democratic general election in 1994 after the end of the racially repressive apartheid system and elected Nelson Mandela as president.