Is the country on the brink of collapse? Today South Africans turn out for a general election, and the party which has ruled the country for 30 years could finally lose power.
Mandela legacy at risk as South Africa votes
Father of the nation: 10 years after his death, Nelson Mandela’s ANC party has become a byword for corruption. Glossary
Cape town - A port city on South Africa's southwest coast, with a population of 4.6 million.
Nelson Mandela - A South African anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in jail before becoming president.
Apartheid - A system of legally-enshrined racial discrimination and oppression which existed in South Africa from 1948 until the 1990s. It denied non-white South Africans basic human rights.
Corruption - When someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery.
Endemic - Common to a particular place or community.
Embezzled - Stealing or misappropriating money that you are in charge of, for example from where you work.
GDP - Short for Gross Domestic Product, the measure of all the goods and services produced inside a country.
Coup - When an individual or group takes control of government by illegal means, including by violence.