South Africa Election: Ruling ANC Loses Parliamentary Majority After 3 Decades of Being in Power

Johannesburg: African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election result Saturday that puts South Africa on a new political path for first time since end of aparid system of white minority rule 30 years ago. With more than 99 per cent of votes counted, once-dominant ANC h received just over 40 per cent in Wednesday's election, well short of majority it h held since famed all-race vote of 1994 that ended aparid and brought it to power under Nelson Mandela.

final results are still to be formally declared by independent electoral commission that ran election, but ANC cannot pass 50 per cent.

At start of election, commission said it would formally declare results by Sunday, but that could come earlier.

While opposition parties have hailed result as a momentous breakthrough for a country struggling with deep poverty and inequality, ANC remained biggest party by some way. However, it will now likely need to look for a coalition partner or partners to remain in government and reelect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second and final term.

Parliament elects South African president after national elections.

“ way to rescue South Africa is to break ANC’s majority and we have done that,” said main opposition leer John Steenhuisen.

way forward promises to be complicated for Africa’s most vanced economy, and re’s no coalition on table yet.

Steenhuisen's Democratic Alliance party was on around 21 per cent of vote. new MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma, who has turned against ANC he once led, was third with just over 14 per cent of vote in first election it has contested. Economic Freedom Fighters was in fourth with just over nine per cent.

More than 50 parties contested election, many of m with tiny shares of vote, but DA and MK appear to be most obvious for ANC to approach, given how far it is from a majority.

Which coalition ANC pursues is urgent focus now, given Parliament needs to sit and elect a president within 14 days of final election results being officially declared. A flurry of negotiations are set to take place and y will likely be complicated.

Steenhuisen has said his centrist party is open to discussions. MK Party said one of ir conditions for any agreement was that Ramaphosa is removed as ANC leer and president.

That underlined fierce political battle between Zuma, who resigned as South African president under a cloud of corruption allegations in 2018, and Ramaphosa, who replaced him.

“We are willing to negotiate with ANC, but not ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa," MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela said.

MK and far-left Economic Freedom Fighters have called for parts of economy to be nationalised. Democratic Alliance is viewed as a business-friendly party and analysts say an ANC-DA coalition would be more welcomed by foreign investors, although re are questions over wher it is politically viable considering DA has been most critical opposition party for years.

An ANC-DA coalition "would be a marriage of two drunk people in Las Vegas. It will never work,” Gayton McKenzie, leer of smaller Patriotic Alliance party, told South African media.

Despite uncertainty, South African opposition parties were hailing new political picture as a much-needed change for country of 62 million, which is Africa's most developed but also one of most unequal in world.

South Africa has widespre poverty and extremely high levels of unemployment and ANC has struggled to raise standard of living for millions.

official unemployment rate is 32 per cent, one of highest in world, and poverty disproportionately affects Black people, who make up 80 per cent of population and have been core of ANC's support for years.

ANC has also been blamed — and now punished by voters — for a failure in basic government services that impacts millions and leaves many without water, electricity or proper housing.

Nearly 28 million South Africans were registered to vote and turnout is expected to be around 60 per cent, according to figures from independent electoral commission.