JOHANNESBURG
South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) party has fallen short of getting a majority in parliament for the first time in three decades.
South Africans on Wednesday voted to elect national and provincial lawmakers in a tightly contested election since ANC won the first post-apartheid democratic elections in 1994.
According to 99.53% of the votes counted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, the ANC has obtained 40.21% of the vote, a drop from the 57.5% it secured in the last national election in 2019.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance received 21.80% of the vote maintaining its grip followed by former President Jacob Zuma’s newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe party which garnered 14.60% of the vote pushing the Economic Freedom Fighters to the fourth position after getting 9.48% of the vote.
There were over 27 million registered voters in the country of some 62 million people, and 70 political parties contesting in these elections, but the voter turnout was only 58.59%.
Prior to the elections, experts and opinion polls suggested that the ANC, once led by late global icon Nelson Mandela would not get a 51% mark to win the elections and form its own government without a coalition.
Unemployment, poverty, corruption, electricity cuts, and crime were some of the main issues that dominated this year’s election campaign.
ANC detractors accused the party of failing to address unemployment, inequality, the energy crisis, and crime in the country.
This is the first time the ANC has got below 50% of the votes. It used to secure more than 60% in all elections since 1994, barring 2019, when its share dipped to 57.5%.
The official election results will be announced on Sunday.
South Africans voted for lawmakers of provincial legislatures and 400 members of parliament, known as the National Assembly.
The voting is on a party basis and the parties get seats in the parliament.
The lawmakers will then elect the president, which means that the party that wins the election gets the ultimate power in the country.
