South Africa heading for first coalition government as ruling party ANC looks set to lose 30-year majority

Former South African president Jacob Zuma's MK Party may end up in a coalition with the ANC party, which he used to lead. Photo: AP

Mogomotsi Magome and Gerald Imray

South Africa was heading closer to the reality of a national coalition government for the first time and a series of complex negotiations to achieve that, as partial election results yesterday put the ruling African National Congress (ANC) well short of a majority.

With more than 65pc of votes counted across the country’s nine provinces, the ANC – which has held a majority for 30 years since the end of apartheid – had received just under 42pc of the national vote in Wednesday’s election, according to the partial results as counting continued. That represented a huge drop from the 57.5pc it received in the last national election in 2019, although there was still some way to go.