ZCZC
BFF-23
SAFRICA-VOTE-POLITICS-RESULTS
South Africa’s ANC takes lead in first results
PRETORIA, May 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – South Africa’s ANC was leading according
to early official results on Thursday following the first electoral test of
whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has reinvigorated support for the ruling
party.
With just over a fifth of districts tallied after Wednesday’s vote, the
African National Congress was ahead, with its closest rival the Democratic
Alliance trailing at a distant 26 percent, results released by the electoral
commission showed.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth
leader Julius Malema, was sitting at eight percent.
Ramaphosa, 66, took over last year after the African National Congress
(ANC) forced then-president Jacob Zuma to resign after nine years dominated
by corruption allegations and economic problems.
The party that wins the most seats in parliament selects the country’s
president, who will be sworn in on May 25.
The ANC’s reputation was badly sullied under Zuma.
Support for the ANC has fallen in every election since 2004 with the party
taking 54 percent in 2016 municipal elections, compared with 62 percent in
2014’s national vote.
Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) were swept to power
with a landslide in the country’s first multi-racial polls that marked the
end of apartheid in 1994.
Most opinion surveys suggest the ANC will secure nearly 60 percent of the
vote, thanks to Ramaphosa’s appeal and a fractured opposition.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1241 hrs