South Africa Faces Historic Shift as ANC Loses Majority

South African parties jostled to set out their stalls ahead of talks on sharing power, with the ruling ANC on course to lose the absolute majority it has enjoyed for three decades.

With more than 85 percent of the votes from Wednesday's election counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress had only 41.12 percent support, a catastrophic slump from the 57.5 it won in 2019.

This marks an historic turning point for South Africa as the party has enjoyed an absolute majority since 1994, when liberation leader Nelson Mandela led the nation out of white-minority rule and into democracy.

The African National Congress (ANC) is now all but certain to have to seek a coalition partner to secure enough backing to name a president and form a government.

"We have been talking with everybody even before the election," ANC's deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane said, saying the party's decision-making body would set the course to follow after final results are announced.

"Anything must be based on principles and not an act of desperation."

As votes continued to be validated, data from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) showed the center-right Democratic Alliance held second place with 21.95 percent.

In third place was former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe on 12.6 percent, a surprise score for a party founded just months ago as a vehicle for the former ANC chief.

The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters was in fourth with 9.4 percent.

The final results were expected at the weekend, but with the trends clear, politicians and pundits were turning their attention to the prospects of an ANC-led coalition.

The ANC has dominated South Africa's democracy with an unbroken run of five presidents from the party, but if  President Cyril Ramaphosa is to remain at the helm he will have to decide whether to seek allies on his right or left.