The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost its parliamentary majority, securing only 40.21% of the votes in South Africa’s recent election.
This marks the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994 that the ANC has failed to achieve a majority.
The ANC will now require coalition partners to achieve over 50% of the votes necessary to form a government.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), received 21.78% of the votes, followed by the MK party with 14.59% and the EFF with 9.51%.
Voter turnout was at a record low of 58.61%, with only 16.2 million out of 27.7 million registered voters casting their ballots.
The ANC managed to secure a majority in five out of nine provinces, but fell short in others, including the Northern Cape and Gauteng. The DA will continue to govern the Western Cape, and the MK party received the highest votes in KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africans vote for members of the National Assembly, who then elect the president.
The ANC’s poor performance has cast doubt on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s future, with some opposition parties refusing to form a coalition unless he is removed.
The ANC had won a majority in all national elections since 1994, with its highest vote share in 2004 at almost 70%. The DA has consistently been the second-largest party in the past five elections.
The current National Assembly has 400 members from 14 political parties, with the ANC holding 230 seats, the DA 84, the EFF 44, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 14.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will announce the official results on Monday night at 6 pm local time (16:00 GMT).