ANC LOSES CONTROLLING MAJORITY
Although the party won the most votes in Wednesday’s general election, the African National Congress (ANC) lost its controlling majority.
The party’s Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said during a press conference on Sunday that there was nothing to celebrate.
“The results showed a significant decline in ANC support from previous elections.”
The ruling party managed to get only 40.21% of the votes, missing the mark of a majority and seeing themselves as having to make a deal with other parties to form a coalition government. This is the first time since apartheid had ended that they have been in this position.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) managed to keep its second place and therefore was named the official opposition of the ruling party.
The newly formed MKP managed to get a staggering 14% of the votes with the EFF in fourth place with almost 10%.
The official results will be announced by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Monday night at 18:00.
Al Jazeera reports that only 16.2 million votes were cast on election day, resulting in a voter turnout of 58.61% - the lowest ever in South Africa’s 30-year democratic history.
Image credit: The Times of Israel