South Africa election set to end three decades of ANC dominance

Summary

Ruling party loses majority for 1st time, on 40% of vote

South Africa enters new era of coalition politics

Voters were angry over failed economic and social policies.

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Opposition DA and ex-leader Zuma's parties in 2nd, 3rd

JOHANNESBURG, June 1 (Reuters) - South Africa was set to end three decades of dominance by the party that freed it from apartheid on Saturday, as voters angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages slashed the vote share of the African National Congress (ANC) to 40%.

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A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from the 57.5% it got in the previous 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep it - an unprecedented prospect.

We can talk to everybody and anybody," Gwede Mantashe, the ANC chair and current mines and energy minister, told reporters in comments broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), dodging a question about who the party was discussing a possible coalition deal with.

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Vote tallying from Wednesday's poll was entering the final stages on Saturday, with results in from 99.5% of polling stations giving the ANC 40.21%.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 21.79%, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new party led by former president Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.61%, while the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, got 9.48%.

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"We have achieved our mission: ... to bring the ANC below 50%. We want to humble the ANC," Malema told journalists at the results centre.

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