Partial Vote Counting in South Africa Confirms Victory by ANC

Results from nearly two-thirds of voting districts in South Africa’s election put the African National Congress (ANC) on course to retain power with a diminished, but strong majority

As of 18:40 GMT on Thursday, ballots in 64 percent of 22,925 voting districts had been counted. The early tallies put the ANC on 57 percent in the parliamentary race, with the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on nearly 23 percent and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on nearly 10 percent.

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During a meeting with the press, Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) President Sy Mamabolo said that several people were arrested for having voted twice, a criminal act punishable by 10 years in prison, and that agency will conduct an audit of the results to confirm whether more facts of that kind occurred.

The ANC achieved its best parliamentary election result in 2004 under former president Thabo Mbeki, when it won 69 percent of the vote. But its support fell under former President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (2009- 2018), and it lost control of big cities like the commercial capital Johannesburg in local government elections in 2016.

The party now controls eight of the country’s nine provinces, with the DA in power in the Western Cape. Early results showed ANC ahead in Gauteng province, where Johannesburg and the administrative capital Pretoria are located, while the DA led in the Western Cape, home to Cape Town.

Election officials said voting had in general progressed smoothly but that there had been isolated disruptions caused by bad weather, unscheduled power outages or community protests.