Thirty years since South Africa’s first democratic vote, this Wednesday’s general election is putting voters to the test like never before. Sadly, the reason they are under such strain is an unprecedented lack of good options. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, as many as one-third of likely voters are yet to make up their minds — and the African National Congress (ANC) may well lose its 50 percent majority for the first time.

This would, indeed, be a historic shift — meaning that South Africa will likely be governed by a coalition for the first time since the Government of National Unity of 1994–96. Surely this is a rather disconcerting prospect given the disastrous record of the existing coalitions that run large cities such as Johannesburg and Durban, which are more defined by the looting of public funds rather than answering social problems. This is, however, just part of wider ills.

Incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa (ANC), a trade union leader-turned-billionaire, had come to power in 2018 promising a new start after “the nine wasted years” of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. This latter’s time in office had been defined by “state capture,” i.e., allowing private interests — most notably the Guptas, a third-rate Indian business clan — to define policy and public appointments. While Ramaphosa has strengthened some elements of the state such as the tax collection service, things have, if anything, gotten even worse.