Pretoria [South Africa], May 31 (ANI): With over 60 per cent of the votes counted in South Africa, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is leading with just more than 40 per cent share of the national vote, Al Jazeera reported.
The ANC has been the dominant political force since the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994 but now if the current trends persist the ANC could fail to win a parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades. There is a likelihood that a coalition government will be formed by joining hands with the other parties.
The development comes two days after South Africa voted in national elections that could pose a big challenge to the ANC's political dominance after the apartheid ended in South Africa. South Africa's principal opposition party, The Democratic Alliance (DA), is currently in second place followed by the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
So far, ANC-led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stands in first place with 41.94 per cent of votes while DA has received 22.97 per cent of votes, Al Jazeera cited Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) data. MKP got 11.66 per cent votes while EEF has secured 9.52 per cent votes, according to IEC.
Notably, the ANC has secured victory in every election after the end of apartheid in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first person of colour President, according to Al Jazeera report.
In 1994, the ANC won 62.5 per cent of the vote and it won 66.4 per cent votes in 1999. In 2004, the party secured almost 70 per cent of the vote. The ANC won nearly 66 per cent of votes in 2009 and received 62 per cent votes in 2014.
In 2019, the ANC received 57.5 per cent of the vote and achieved its lowest margin of victory. The opposition DA has secured a second spot in the past five elections.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma is the wild card in the elections. He was set to run for parliament, however, his name was removed from the candidate list of the MK party after the court's decision of 2021 conviction. Now, Zuma is fielding a stand-in and testing a new role as kingmaker.
Zuma, who has fallen out with the ANC, is determined to be a thorn in the side of his old party. With the MK, Zuma is looking to wrest power from ANC - if not nationally, then at least to split the ANC's votes in KwaZulu-Natal. With just more than 58 per cent of the votes announced, MK sits third on the list with 11.3 per cent.
Currently, the lower house of South Africa's parliament is represented by 400 members of 14 political parties, allocated proportionally on the basis of votes each party received in the elections held in 2019, Al Jazeera reported.
In the lower house of South Africa's parliament, ANC has 230 seats, DA has 84 seats,
EFF: 44 seats, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has 14 seats. Ten other parties have the remaining 28 seats.
On May 29, people in South Africa voted to elect nine provincial legislatures and a new national parliament, which will then choose the country's next president for the next five years. The election commission will announce the final results on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.
A total of 70 parties and candidates are vying for 400 seats in the National Assembly by voting under a proportional system. Parties on the national ballot will contest 200 of those seats while the other 200 are divided between the nine regions and contested by parties and independent candidates. (ANI)
