Partial results in South Africa's national election put the long-ruling African National Congress party at well below 50% of the vote as counting continued Thursday, May 30, and it could be on the brink of losing its majority for the first time since sweeping to power under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994.
That would be a momentous change for South Africa, where the ANC has been dominant for all 30 years of its young democracy and the only governing party many have known.
The ANC had the most votes and was well ahead in the early results, as expected. But if it fails to secure a majority, it may have to form a coalition to remain in the government – something that has never happened before in post-apartheid South Africa. Without a majority, the ANC would also need help from other parties to reelect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term.
"I think we are seeing a massive change in South African politics," Susan Booysen, a political analyst and professor emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said on national broadcaster SABC TV. It was still only an early picture after Wednesday's election. The final results were expected to take days, with the independent electoral commission saying they would be delivered by Sunday, although they could come earlier.
The website of South Africa's electoral commission was down on Friday as the country counted votes from a key election in which the ruling ANC looked set to lose its majority.
"We apologize for the issue with our public-facing NPE system, and are working on restoring service," the commission said. "The results system is still operational and local offices continue to capture results", it said.