Ramaphosa
Update: Polls show ANC could lose majority in South African elections
While final results of the South African election are expected on Sunday, early signals showed that the ruling African National Congress, ANC, may lose its majority for the first time in the history of the Rainbow country.
Indeed, vote count began shortly after polls closed, in some cities long after the planned 9pm (19:00 GMT) Wednesday deadline.
South Africans voted in national and provincial elections that could test the 30-year rule of the ANC party.
If President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party drops below 50 percent for the first time since it came to power in 1994, it will force him to seek coalition partners.
Vote counting continues after South Africa’s general election on Wednesday. Final results are expected to be announced by the Electoral Commission this weekend.
Follow our live election results tracker here. Read more about election day here and get a refresher about the key election issues here.
Continue following all our coverage from South Africa in the coming days as we bring you the election results and more.
The first day of vote counting got under way in South Africa on Thursday after the country went to the polls a day earlier in a crucial vote for the governing ANC.
Polls officially closed at 9pm (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday, but long voter queues and delays kept many polling stations open until about 3am (01:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Vote counting began shortly after polls closed and continued throughout the day.
By 4pm (14:00 GMT), results were concluded for 22.6 percent of all voting districts, the country’s Electoral Commission said.
Just before 11pm (21:00 GMT), more than 40 percent of the vote was tallied. Counting will continue into Friday.
Jacob Zuma’s MK party gained ground in KwaZulu-Natal, and the main opposition DA took an early lead in the Western Cape. Meanwhile, the ANC struggled more than it did in previous elections.
Analysts say it is unlikely the ANC will get a 50 percent majority, which means the party will have to seek coalition partners to govern.
Although final results are expected to be announced by Sunday, but President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to be weakened by the unprecedented bad performance of his party in this week’s national elections.
The ANC may end up in coalition, the only way that could see Ramaphosa stay.
The ANC’s top seven officials are meeting late on Friday to mull over the party’s bad performance in South Africa’s national elections, held on Wednesday.
With about 60% of the voting districts counted, the party’s majority is even smaller than it was on the first day of counting.
On Friday early afternoon the ANC stood on 41.48%, and could get worse once results from the other parts come in.