Thirty years after assuming power in South Africa, the African National Congress, which has been in power since the advent of democracy in this country and the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, has lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly.
The Electoral Commission said that, at 14:00 GMT, with 99.5 percent of the polling stations counted, the ancient party obtained 40.21 percent of the votes, falling beyond the 50 percent threshold.
The Democratic Alliance, which is the largest opposition party, received 21.79 percent of the votes, followed by the party of former President Jacob Zuma (which was established months before the elections), which obtained 14.61 percent, while the Economic Freedom Fighters party remained “The extreme leftist at 9.48 percent.
The final results are expected to be announced tomorrow, Sunday.
Since the first national elections in 1994, the ANC has obtained a large majority in every election due to its strong loyalty to the movement that liberated the country from the yoke of apartheid.
16 million voters went to the polls on Wednesday, and lined up in long lines, sometimes until late at night, to vote. The ANC won about 70 percent of the votes in 2004, but it only received 57 percent of the votes in 2019.
The choice falls on 400 representatives at the end of the ballot, which witnessed competition that was the strongest in the history of democracy that was born with the election of Nelson Mandela, the first president of African descent. These representatives will choose the next president.
The historic party, which currently holds 230 parliamentary seats (57.5 percent), is supposed to remain the largest party in the National Assembly. But President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to seek alliances to form a coalition government.
Experts and observers still find it difficult to predict the shape of the alliances, but everyone agrees that the negotiations that will take place after the final results are announced will not be easy.
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