Early results in South Africa's election show ANC losing majority

South Africa's ANC faces potential loss of parliamentary majority after 30 years, with Ramaphosa likely to remain president.

The African National Congress appeared on course to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years, partial results from South Africa's national election showed, in what would be the most dramatic political shift since the end of apartheid.

With results from 10% of polling stations, the ANC’s share of the vote on May 29th’s election stood at 42.3%, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) at 26.3% and the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at 8.1%, data from the electoral commission showed.

If the final results were to resemble the early picture, the ANC would be forced to make a deal with one or more other parties to govern— a situation that could lead to unprecedented political volatility in the coming weeks or months.

Under South Africa's constitution, the newly elected National Assembly will elect the next president.

With the ANC still on course to be the largest party, its leader Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to remain as the country's president, although a poor showing could make him vulnerable to a leadership challenge from within party ranks.

The ANC has won national elections held every five years since the landmark 1994 election, which marked the end of apartheid and the ascent of Nelson Mandela as President.

But since those heady days the ANC's support has declined because of disillusionment over issues such as high unemployment and crime, frequent power blackouts and corruption.