South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling ANC won re-election on Friday with an absolute majority in parliament, results showed, but with diminished support, complicating economic revival and anti-corruption efforts.
The results, published by the electoral commission, are the party’s worst national showing since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first multi-racial polls after apartheid ended in 1994.
The African National Congress (ANC) held a comfortable lead with 57.73 percent at 1615 GMT after 95 percent of voting districts were officially tallied following Wednesday’s vote.
That means they will be mathematically assured more than 50 percent of votes cast in the final official tally, due to be announced Saturday.
Seats in parliament are allocated based on vote share and the party with the most representatives selects the president, who will be sworn in on May 25.
President Ramaphosa, 66, took over last year when the ANC forced then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated by corruption allegations and economic decline.
Results released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed the ANC’s closest rival, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), trailing with a distant 20.65 percent of the vote.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, was in third place with 10.51 percent — up four percentage points on 2014.
