AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - 2024 parliamentary elections: African National Congress loses absolute majority

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - The African National Congress (ANC) is in the lead in the counting of the partial results of the parliamentary elections of May 29, but has not achieved an absolute majority. According to the current count, the ANC has so far received 42% of the votes cast, far from the 57.5% it received in the last elections. It is followed by the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), with 23.5%. Former President Jacob Zuma Umkhonto We Sizwe's party, with 10.35%, overtakes the radical left-wing formation, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) which obtained 9.5%.
The loss of the absolute majority means that the ANC will be forced to form a coalition government with other parties, and will also have to reach an agreement with other political parties to provide the new Head of State who will be elected by the Parliament resulting from these elections.
"These elections were the most fiercely contested since the end of apartheid in 1994, after the Electoral Amendment Act came into force in 2023," said the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA), which sent observers to South African polling stations together with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), which brings together the bishops of South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini.
"During election observation in Pretoria, long queues were observed outside polling stations. Observers were encouraged by the high turnout of young voters despite the cold weather. The observation team also noted the smooth running of the election and praised the security officers for their presence in all polling stations," the statement said.
The publication of the election results was, however, blocked by a fault on the website of the Independent Electoral Commission, which stopped working this morning, giving rise to suspicions and conspiracy theories on social media. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 31/5/2024)

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