South Africans slash support for ruling party as election ends decades of dominance

South Africans angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages slashed support for the African National Congress to 40% in this week's election, ending three decades of dominance by the party that freed the country from apartheid.

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A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from the 57.5% it garnered in the 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 carried by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, dodging a question about who the party was discussing a possible coalition deal with.

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Counting from Wednesday's poll was almost complete on Saturday, with results from 99.87% of polling stations giving the ANC 40.19% of votes.

The ANC had won every national election by a landslide since the historic 1994 vote that ended white minority rule, but over the last decade its support has dwindled as the economy stagnated, unemployment rose and roads and power stations crumbled.

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Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, had 21.80% support while uMkhonto we Sizwe, a new party led by former President Jacob Zuma, managed to grab 14.58%. The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, got 9.5%.

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