EXPLANATION

The African National Congress (ANC) has lost its parliamentary majority and will need coalition partners to obtain more than 50 percent of the vote and form a government.

Although almost all votes have been counted in South Africa, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) received only 40.21 percent of the votes cast in Wednesday's election, far from a majority.

For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the once dominant party must reach an agreement with other parties to form a coalition. Government.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the largest opposition party, received the second highest number of votes (21.78 percent), followed by the MK Party (14.59 percent) and the EFF (9.51 percent).

The South African Electoral Commission (IEC) will announce The official results will be announced on Monday evening at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

South Africa's lowest voter turnout

Before the Elections on 29 MayMore than ever before, 27.7 million South Africans registered to vote. However, only 16.2 million votes were cast on election day, resulting in a voter turnout of 58.61 percent – the lowest in South Africa's 30-year democratic history.

In fact, voter turnout has been steadily declining in recent years. In 1999, nearly 90 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, while in the 2019 election, only 66 percent of voters cast their ballots.

Results by province

The ANC won enough votes to win more than 50 percent of the vote in five of South Africa's nine provinces: Limpopo (74 percent), Eastern Cape (63 percent), North West (58 percent), Free State (53 percent) and Mpumalanga (52 percent).

In the Northern Cape (49 percent) and Gauteng (36 percent), the ANC did not achieve the necessary majority and must therefore find coalition partners to form a government.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will continue to participate in government in the Western Cape province (53 percent), as has been the case since 2009.

And in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), former President Jacob Zuma's MK received the highest number of votes with around 46 percent, ahead of the ANC, which received around 18 percent.

Of the nearly 39,000 South Africans who voted from abroad, more than 75 percent voted for the DA.

How is the president elected and what happens next?

South Africans do not elect the president directly.

Instead, they elect members of the National Assembly, who then elect the president by a simple majority – 201 or more votes decide the presidency.

Once the IEC announces its results, certain procedural steps must be followed in order for South Africa to form a government. These include:

• Seating arrangement: Seats in the 400-member National Assembly are allocated proportionally based on election results.
• First session of the National Assembly: Within 14 days of the announcement of the election results, the newly elected National Assembly must hold its first session, at which the members are sworn in and the Speaker is elected.
• Election of the President: During the first session or shortly thereafter, the National Assembly elects the President of South Africa, who is then responsible for appointing the Cabinet and forming the Government.
• Formation of government: The election of the president is usually followed by the process of forming a government, which also includes the appointment of ministers.

To ensure a smooth transfer of power and continuity in governance, the entire process is usually completed within a few weeks.

Ramaphosa's future uncertain

South Africa's current president, 71-year-old Cyril Ramaphosa, has indicated that he will not resign following the ANC's poor performance in the election.

The former anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader and businessman from Soweto was hoping for his second and final term as president.

Some opposition parties, including Zuma’s MK party, have coalition Make a deal with the ANC unless they sack Ramaphosa first.

Previous election results

The ANC had won a majority in all six national elections since the end of apartheid in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became the country's first black president.

In 1994, the ANC received 62.5 percent of the vote. In 1999, it received 66.4 percent. In 2004, it received almost 70 percent of the vote – its highest result to date. In 2009, it received almost 66 percent of the vote and in 2014, the figure was 62 percent.

In the last election in 2019, the ANC achieved its smallest lead with 57.5 percent of the vote.

In the last five elections, the DA came second.

Parties in the current National Assembly

The lower house of Parliament is currently represented by 400 MPs from 14 political parties. Seats are allocated proportionally based on the votes each party received in the 2019 election.

• ANC: 230 seats (57.5 percent)
• AND: 84 seats (21 percent)
• EFF: 44 seats (11 percent)
• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP): 14 seats (3.5 percent)

The remaining 28 seats are shared by ten other parties.