South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has lost its three-decade-long outright majority in this week’s election, securing only 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament, official results revealed on Sunday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and leaders of most rival parties attended the announcement. However, former President Jacob Zuma was notably absent, signaling his intention to challenge the results.
For the first time, no single party has secured a majority in the National Assembly. The ANC received 40% of the vote, translating to 159 seats. Trailing behind was the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) with 87 seats and 22% of the vote. Zuma’s newly formed radical party, uMkonto weSizwe (MK), took third place with 14.59% of the vote, earning 58 seats, despite denouncing the election process.
“Our people have spoken, whether we like it or not, they have spoken,” Ramaphosa stated. “As the leaders of political parties, as all those who occupy positions of responsibility in society, we have heard the voices of our people, and we must respect their wishes.”
DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed readiness to negotiate a coalition government with the ANC and other parties to prevent Zuma’s return to power. Steenhuisen and other party leaders attended the results meeting hosted by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), but Zuma did not, having denounced the ballot as rigged the previous night.
Nhlamulo Ndhlela, an MK spokesman, explained Zuma’s absence, saying that attending would be “tantamount to endorsing an illegal declaration.”
