The ANC, which has dominated South Africa's politics since Nelson Mandela's victory in 1994, is likely to have to form a coalition to stay in power, with its approval rating below 50 percent with more than half the votes counted.
Friday 31 May 2024 14:21 UK
South Africa is on track to see its first change of government since the end of apartheid, according to partial results from the closest election to date.
With more than half the votes nationwide counted, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is well short of a majority.
So far, less than 42% of voters support the ANC, well below the 57.5% it got in the last national poll in 2019 and a far cry from its peak of 70% in 2004.
The party remains the largest and is widely expected to have the most seats in parliament, but will likely have to form a coalition to stay in power.
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Any deal would likely include the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which so far has a support rate of about 24 percent and whose leader, John Steenhausen, has said he is open to working with the ANC.
“The road to rescue is South Africa The aim was to undermine the ANC's majority and we achieved that.
“We will end up in the low 40 per cent range and if that happens it will open up a whole new world in South African politics and we will clearly start to build something better for South Africans.”
He said he first needed to speak to a group of other parties with whom he has pre-election agreements, and that talks would not begin until all the election results were in.
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The ANC has been in power ever since. Nelson Mandela He led the party to victory in the country's first multi-ethnic elections in 1994, and has since won majorities in the six national elections.
If it wins close to a majority in the general election, it may consider cooperating with the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which has so far won just under 10% of the vote.
But such a deal could destabilize financial markets because the EFF has promised to nationalize parts of the South African economy and seize land from white farmers.
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A deal with a former ANC leader is much less likely Jacob Zuma's MK Partyhas said it cannot work with the ANC.
Zuma himself was barred from running because of his criminal convictions. Contempt of Court 2021 For refusing to testify at a judicial investigation into government corruption.
The country's electoral commission (IEC) said the final results of Wednesday's elections were expected to be announced by Sunday, or sooner.
