RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP
South Africa's ruling ANC was on track to score its worst electoral result on Friday, with early tallies showing voters deserted the party in droves, ending its 30-year political dominance.
If the African National Congress (ANC) is confirmed as dropping below 50 per cent of the vote, it would force the party to seek coalition partners to be re-elected to form a new government.
That would mark a historic evolution in the country's democratic journey, as the party has enjoyed an absolute parliamentary majority since 1994.
With more than 55 per cent of votes in Wednesday's general election counted, the ANC was leading but with a score of 42 per cent, well below the 57 per cent it won in 2019.
As votes continued to be validated, data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) held a secure second place with 24 per cent of preferences.
It was followed by former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) at 11 per cent and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at 10 per cent.
The final results are expected in the next couple of days.
IEC's website was briefly down on Friday due to technical problems.
"The data in the data centre remains intact and the results have not been compromised," the IEC said, after apologising.
"All services have since been restored and the leaderboard is working normal. Result processing continues unaffected."
Once led by late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, the ANC has dominated South Africa's democracy with an unbroken run of five presidents from the party.
© Agence France-Presse
