South Africa election results news24, The result could be the biggest political change since the end of apartheid.
With more than 60 percent of votes counted, results show the ruling ANC could lose their majority and be forced to seek coalition partners
According to the statistics of the electoral commission, so far 11.3 percent of the votes have been counted, and the ANC party has obtained 42.8 percent followed by the liberal Democratic Alliance party with 26.5 percent of the vote while politician Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters EFF party has taken the place of third at 8.3 percent.
Speaking during the vote counting exercise, Nombuyiselo Biyela, manager of a polling station in Eshowe, KwaZulu Natal province, said;
We can’t really say how long it will take but in our estimation, it shouldn’t take too long because we kept records of our statistics throughout the day. Now it is our responsibility to see how the process goes because we do not know whether we have spoiled votes or not. So, we will have to wait and see how long it takes.
If the final results follow the initial figures, the ANC will have to make an agreement with one or more parties to form a coalition government, a situation that could increase the political temperature in the coming weeks or months in South Africa.
With more than 60 percent of the ballots counted, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is leading with just over 40 percent share of the national vote, two days after the country voted in national elections that could throw up the biggest challenge to the ANC’s political dominance since the end of apartheid in South Africa.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s principal opposition party, is currently in second place followed by the MK party and EFF.
South Africa election results 2024
With the ANC still remaining the largest party, its leader Cyril Ramaphosa may remain the country’s president, although a poor result may put him in a difficult situation and face a leadership challenge within his party.
According to the law, the electoral commission has seven days to announce the full results, but usually the exercise is completed before the scheduled time. For example in the last election, in 2019, voting was held on Wednesday
and the final result came on Saturday.
The new parliament must meet within 14 days after the final results are announced and its first task is to elect a president.
The ANC has been winning national elections held every five years since the 1994 general election, which marked the end of apartheid when Nelson Mandela was elected president.
But since then the ANC’s support has dwindled due to popular disillusionment with issues such as high unemployment, crime, frequent power outages and corruption.
In KwaZulu-Natal province, the most populous eastern region, the new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, Mkhonto we Sizwe (MK), won 42.3 percent of the vote against 20.1 for the ANC.
Zuma was forced to resign as president in 2018 after a series of scandals and has since fallen out with the ANC leadership.
Which are the main parties in the race?
Four of the biggest players to watch out for in this year’s elections are the ANC, the DA, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Previous election results
The ANC has won all national elections since the end of apartheid in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first Black president.
In 1994, the ANC won 62.5 percent of the vote. In 1999, it won 66.4 percent. In 2004, it reached its highest levels, clinching almost 70 percent of the vote. In 2009, it won nearly 66 percent, and in 2014, it won 62 percent.
In the last election in 2019, the ANC achieved its lowest margin of victory, winning 57.5 percent of the vote.
South Africa election results 2024
Parties in current National Assembly
The lower house of parliament is currently represented by 400 members of 14 political parties, allocated proportionally based on the votes each party received in the 2019 elections.
- ANC: 230 seats (57.5 percent)
- DA: 84 seats (21 percent)
- EFF: 44 seats (11 percent)
- Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): 14 seats (3.5 percent)
Ten other parties make up the remaining 28 seats.
