Early counts point to ANC losing majority in South Africa elections
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The news: The African National Congress (ANC) could be on course to lose the outright majority it has held for the first time since the start of South Africa’s multiparty elections 30 years ago.
The numbers: With 18.7% of the national vote counted, the ANC was tracking 42.9% on Thursday, which is worse than polls had predicted. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) was doing better than expected with 25.1%, and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was on 8.7%.
The South African rand fell as much as 2% to trade at 18.7639 per dollar after early projections were announced on Thursday.
The context: Should the early results continue in the same direction as votes are counted, the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led the party at the collapse of the apartheid system in 1994.
Former President Jacob Zuma made headlines in December when he announced he would leave the ANC to run for the election under the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), which is currently in fourth position with around 8% of the votes. Despite having been banned from running, Zuma’s name appeared on the voting ballot as the leader of the MK Party.
Should current President Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC party fall below 50% in the final tally, he would be forced to seek coalition partners to be re-elected to form a new government. If the ANC tally falls substantially below 45% when all the votes are counted, the party may have difficulty forming a coalition with small parties and could seek support from the EFF or Zuma’s MK.
Final results are expected to be announced over the weekend.
The sources: Associated Press, Financial Times, Bloomberg
